Forbidden Masters
by DaStonekeeper
Summary: (This story takes place pre-season 7) Jay notices something strange with his powers, and things only get weirder when he discovers he has some interesting relations with the ninja's former enemy, Morro. Now Sensei Wu tells him about a forbidden legacy of Elemental Masters that was never supposed to be discovered... and Jay is supposedly the only heir. (Excuse bad 1st chapter!)
1. Chapter 1

Hello everybody! DaStonekeeper is here to throw my very first fanfiction at you called "Forbidden Masters". Let me just tell you a little bit about it before we start…

The story focuses on Jay, and takes place not long after Day of the Departed, but before season seven. So, Cole is no longer a ghost.

Plot- Jay notices something strange about his powers, and finds out he has some interesting ties to the ninjas' former enemy, Morro. Perhaps there is more to his biological parents than he thought? Finally, Wu sheds some light on Jay's situation, and the lightning ninja learns about a forbidden legacy that no one was ever supposed to know about. And he is supposedly the only living heir to that legacy.

With that said, let us begin…

"Sorry honey, but we don't know anything about your biological parents." Edna, Jay's mother responded.

Jay sighed and looked out the window of his childhood home. The rain was pounding on the roof of the shelter and turning the dirt into thick, dark mud. The lightning ninja had taken a day off from training to learn more about his parents before the Walkers. "If it makes ya' feel any better, you can look up the Gordon family tree on the 'puter if ya' want." Ed, Jay's father suggested.

"Dad, you guys don't own a computer." Jay told him. Jay stood up ready to gather his things and head for the ninja's temple.

"Well, that's not stopping ya' from looking it up on your own time!" Ed continued. Jay shrugged with a smile.

"I guess you're right, Pop."

With that, Jay pulled on his jacket and left the junkyard with two goodbyes to his parents.

Although it was raining bullets, and has only gotten worse since Jay left to visit his parents, Cole and Kai were still locked in hand-to-hand combat training for when the next villain will strike. Nya, on the other hand, was having a heated argument with Lloyd about whether or not water was basically the same element as ice, just not as cold. ("Lloyd, as the water ninja I'm telling you that water is its own element! It has nothing to do with ice!")

With a bit of searching, Jay was able to locate Zane in the far side of the temple, reading in the shelter of the structure's roof.

"Zane! Gotta minute?" Jay called out once he was within distance.

"Welcome back, Jay. How was your long overdue yet short-lived visit with your parents?"

"Like you have room to talk about _parents_ , you bucket of bolts!"

"Actually, I have plenty of room to talk. And yes, I do have a minute as you have inquired." Zane said, gesturing to a spot on the bench he was sitting on.

Jay sat. "Can you have P.I.X.A.L look up something for me?" Jay asked.

"Hm. It depends on the request, brother."

"What about a family tree?" Jay asked. Zane nodded and raised his head.

"P.I.X.A.L, access ." Zane told the nindroid inside his mind. "Now, what family?" He continued.

"The Gordon family."

"As in, Cliff Gordon?"

"Yep."

"Very well. Would you like me to recite the tree?"

"Yes please." Jay answered.

Zane straightened up. "Cliff Gordon. Father of Jay Walker-" Zane faltered hearing Jay's name in the Gordon family tree. He cleared his throat and continued. "-Husband of Unknown. He is deceased."

"Wait, unknown? Nothing about his wife?"

"There is nothing about her."

"Go on."

"-Son of Keya Gordon who is the sister of…" Zane trailed off, his expression showing shock.

"What? Who is she the sister of?" Jay prompted. Zane struggled to answer.

"S-Sister of…. Morro…." Zane said hesitantly. Jay was as shocked as he was.

"Morro is my great-uncle?" Jay gasped.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note- So I have decided that I will only give "special" chapters names (Like chapter three, which will probably be entitled "Morro's Fate"—name pending-) and thank you for those who reviewed last chapter, it helped me a lot! I will try to publish a new chapter once to twice a week, but it's hard keeping up with my fanfiction along with my very busy personal life. But hey, I'll do my best.**

 **-DaStonekeeper**

* * *

Chapter Two

Jay shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He wouldn't say this was _too_ surprising, but he never would have expected it before.

"Perhaps we should inform the others about our findings," Zane suggested. Jay stood and held up his hand.

"No. I… I don't think that we should." Jay replied solemnly.

"Why not? Is there something wrong with you being related to Morro?" Zane asked him suspiciously. Jay took a few steps forward, away from Zane.

"I don't wanna say. Just promise me you won't tell anyone, 'kay?" Jay asked the nindroid with a graveness in his voice. Zane opened his mouth to protest, but thought better than it.

"Of course, brother. You can trust me."

Without another word, Jay left the titanium ninja on the bench. Next, he was going to see Sensei Wu.

Jay cautiously entered the old sensei's quarters, just in case he happened to be sleeping. Lucky for him, he wasn't. Not so lucky for him, he seemed to be into a deep meditation; legs crossed and all. Jay quietly took a few steps towards Wu, not completely sure of what he should do. Half of Jay was telling him to break the sensei out of his trance, the other half was telling him to leave him be. If Wu was this deep into meditation, then who knows what he'll might do if bothered.

Jay finally mustered up the courage to clear his throat, hopefully to get Sensei's attention. Unfortunately, nothing happened. He cleared his throat again, this time with more volume. Again, Wu was still and silent.

Jay shuffled his way closer, as a small part of him was irrationally panicking that Sensei might be dead, and carefully inched his hand to the old man's shoulder. Before he made contact, Wu's eyes shot open, and he impulsively clutched Jay's wrist. Once he came to the realization that it was only the lightning ninja disturbing him, Wu let go.

"What brings you here, young ninja?" Sensei Wu asked.

"Well, I wanted to ask you a question." Jay answered, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"You seem bothered. What happened?"

Jay took a seat on the floor, as did Wu, who was standing up. "Is… is it possible for someone to have more than one elemental power?" Jay asked nervously. Wu was silent.

"What makes you ask that?" He questioned in reply.

Jay thought back to the memory.

* * *

Two Weeks Earlier

Jay stumbled into to the room, and everybody stared.

"What took you so long, zaptrap?" Cole snapped, obviously in a bad mood (Someone had recently finished off the cake). Nya studied Jay.

"You're pale… are you okay?" She asked, concerned. Jay nodded and sniffed.

"I'm fine, just have little cold." Jay explained. "Now, why were we called here again?" He asked in a nasally, congested voice.

Lloyd cleared his throat and as a result, the ninja all turned to him. Though Jay didn't think he meant to get the attention of everyone in the room. "There was another distress signal from Jamanakai Village." The green ninja began.

"Another? That's the third time this week!" Kai interrupted. Nya shot him a look that made him shut up. Lloyd began again.

"Yes. So it may just be a false alarm like last time-"

"I don't know... It could be a trouble-making little brat that is trying to summon the serpentine again." Cole intruded. This brought a snicker from Kai and even a little one from Nya. Cole smiled mischievously.

Lloyd glared at him. "Well then. _Or_ it could be a disobedient teen who can't even dance, despite his father's wishes." He snapped.

Kai burst out laughing, and Nya "oooohed". Cole was obviously taken back. "Well _maybe_ that teen has mastered the triple-tiger-sashay and-"

"I'm sorry, but I am very confused. These inferences seem highly unlikely and are quite similar to how Cole and Lloyd were as young adolescents." Zane pointed out. Then he spotted Jay gazing into nothingness in the corner. "Jay, would you care to join us by taking a seat?"

Jay suddenly snapped back into reality. "Huh? Oh yeah, sorry. I was just dozing off a little…" He said. The bags underneath Jay's eyes must have been dark enough to cloud his vision, because as soon Jay took a step forward, he tripped over a lonely floorboard that was set higher from the rest and Jay came tumbling down with a loud _thud_. Nya and Zane immediately shot up from their seats and rushed to his aid. The water ninja knelt down to inspect him for nonexistent injuries, as Zane was doing a much more thorough job by scanning him.

Once he was finished, Zane sighed sadly. "Jay, you should really stay back this time. If you attend the mission, your illness will only become worse." He explained.

Nya, with a sudden panic washing over her face, asked nervously, "What illness?"

"Influenza."

The other ninja looked at Zane, their faces suddenly white. "Wh-What's that?" Kai stammered.

"The flu." Zane finished.

All the other ninja sighed with relief. They originally thought that their brother was sick with some incurable disease. "Well, if that's the case, then Jay you have my permission to stay back during this mission." Lloyd announced.

Jay tried to stand up again, but his hand slipped. Pain shot up through his body. Yet, he still tried to protest. "No! C'mon, Lloyd! I'm fine! Really!" Jay objected. He sneezed right then, which didn't help his case at all.

Lloyd nodded to his mother, Misako, and she helped Nya set Jay on his feet. Misako led the master of lightning to the main loft of the temple. She then tucked Jay in on the couch and piled three blankets on top of him.

"Misako, please just let me go with the others!" Jay protested groggily. Misako shook her head and fed him some tea.

"Jay, as a mother I only want to see you get better. Now drink." She replied.

Jay drank the tea. The heat of it gave him goosebumps, but it still soothed his burning throat. He mumbled "thanks" and let his head sink into the throw pillow propped up on the arm of the sofa. After a few more minutes of tending to Jay, Misako finally exited the room, turning off the lights before she left.

Jay laid in silence for a long time. He wished he was outside with the ninja, saving Jamanakai Village (If it even needed to be saved, that is).

The room was dark, and the young man was slowly succumbing to sleepiness. Without realizing it, Jay sneezed again. A breeze blew through the room.

Jay shivered, pulling the blankets closer to his face. Then something occurred to him. Jay opened his eye just a crack, perplexed of where the breeze had come from.

The AC wasn't on, and no doors were open. As Jay sneezed again, this time more violently, the breeze blew in response. A few papers set on the coffee table floated off and gently swayed to the floor.

The blue ninja cautiously sat up, watching for any signs of movement. More specifically signs of movement of a ghost.

Was it possible that Morro had returned? No, he couldn't. He was long gone in the Realm of the Departed.

Then where was that wind coming from?

* * *

Present Day

Wu listened intently as Jay told the story. The ninja was trying to incorporate as much detail in as possible. Once Jay finished, there was a long, still silence. Finally Jay broke it.

"What do you think this means?" Jay finally asked. "Do you think that I've actually inherited elemental powers from Morro?"

Wu took a deep breath. "I haven't seen anything like this for a long time."


	3. Morro's Fate

Chapter Three

 _Morro's Fate_

"What are you talking about?" Jay asked. The sensei rubbed his temples, as if he was struggling to find the right words.

"It was so long ago, and I was hoping that I would forget…" He explained cryptically. Jay leaned in closer.

"What was so long ago?"

Wu turned his gaze to the ninja. There was a look in his eyes that Jay has never seen before. It made Jay almost… scared. "Sensei Wu?" Jay repeated.

"I am about to tell you something that no one else can ever know about." Wu began.

"I promise I won't tell anyone." Jay replied.

"A promise isn't good enough. Swear on a Ninja's Oath." Wu told him.

Jay's eyes widened. A Ninja's Oath? That's one of the most major promises in Ninjago history! What could be so bad that Jay has to make a promise that if broken, will result in horrible consequences? Even traitors of the Ninja who swore on a Ninja's Oath don't spill the tea.

"Sensei, you know that I-"

"Do it, if you really want to know."

Jay weighed his options. After moments of critical thinking, he made his decision.

"Okay." The blue ninja intoned.

Wu gathered his breath. "Jay Walker, do you swear on the Ninja's Oath, to not repeat what I am about to tell you to anyone but the current people in this room?"

"Yes."

Although this may seem not much, but hidden behind the words of the Sensei was an ancient spell that ensured the punishment of Jay Walker if he were to break the oath. And both of them knew this.

"Very well then. I suppose I should now tell you the answer to your question." Wu finally said.

At this point Jay was shaking. He was terrified of what the old sensei might tell him now that he took an oath.

Wu began.

"The Serpentine were steadily becoming yet more powerful, and the majority of the Elemental Masters were injured from the battles. Morro was begging me to let him fight, but at that time he was still too young and inexperienced to do any good. My brother and I were running out of options. Until we read about an ancient spell, that is. We stumbled upon one of our father's old books, and it told us about the ability to transfer and combine elemental powers to create powerful beings from even the weakest. What we did not know, were the consequences of doing so. We found three students who were training in the martial arts, and they were more than willing to become elemental masters. The first was an eighteen-year-old who we gave the powers of nature and form. He had the ability of controlling wild spirits of animals and the animals themselves of the world. It came to a point where he can transform into them. We called it the Element of the Wild."

Jay nodded.

Wu continued. "The second was a teenage girl who wished to be able to control things. She didn't specify how, but she was given the element of mind and my own, element of creation. We called her power the Element of Manipulation; very dangerous indeed. The third, well, we didn't know what to do with him. Many of the elemental masters were very reluctant to donate a part of their powers after seeing the effects of the donors. I had never felt so weak in my life. Then Morro stepped up."

Jay gasped.

"Knowing that this was probably the only time he could help us win this war, Morro offered to donate some of his element of wind. The Master of Lightning joined him." Wu continued.

Jay gasped even louder.

"Combined, they turned that boy into the Master of Storm, the product of wind and lightning."

Jay butted in. "Does that make me the master of storm now?" He asked hopefully.

"No, not necessarily." Wu answered. Jay opened his mouth to comment, but Wu intervened.

"Even with our new soldiers, we still fell short in the war against the Serpentine. What was even worse, was that now a handful of the elemental masters, including myself, were far too weak to participate. Garmadon suggested a dangerous idea. He was accompanied by a loyal, yet nameless follower of the Elemental Masters."

"What did you call him then?"

"He asked to simply be called the Purple Ninja. Now, Garmadon's idea was far too complex, and could lead to ultimate destruction (A small part of me believed that that was his intention). He wanted to give the Purple Ninja, the most trusted companion of the Elemental Masters, a part of each of the masters' elements. We had no idea what it would do to him."

Jay was listening intently, not daring to interrupt the Sensei now.

"Once the transfer was complete, the ninja fell to the ground. We all first believed he was dead, that the power of all combined elements was too much for him to handle. Then a burst of violet light emanated from his position on the dirt. He rose to the air and became… became… something indescribable. His eyes were a violent shade of dark purple, which oddly corresponded with his robes."

Jay imagined the powerful being, bewildering the elemental masters (And Morro) and making them collapse.

"We eventually decided on the term 'Element of Reality' to describe the Purple Ninja's newfound power. And it was all too fitting. With him, we easily defeated the Serpentine-"

"But that's not what all the history books say!" Jay stated.

"Please, Jay, let me finish. As we celebrated, the Masters of Storm, Manipulation, The Wild, and Reality stayed back. We should have seen it coming. You see, they did not inherit their powers. They were given to them. And we also should have heeded the warning on the spell."

"What warning?"

"If elemental masters did not inherit their powers, they had an almost definite chance of being corrupted by them. And corrupted the masters were. With the Purple Ninja at the lead, the group formed a rebellion and turned against their fellow masters. They were bent on attaining all power, or, at least the Master of Reality was. With a lot of help from the Elemental Masters of Time-"

"Woah, woah, woah. Hold up. There's such thing as the element of _time_?" Jay interrupted.  
"Yes, but-"

"That's so cool! Are they still alive?"

"Technically, yes-"

"Can I get a _selfie_ with them?"

"Jay."

"Ooh! I can I get them to show me their powers?"

"Jay! JAY! I will tell you and the other ninja about the Time Twins-"

" _Twins_?"

"-Another time! Now just _listen_!" Wu scolded. He cleared his throat. "After we had weakened the rebels with the help of the Elemental Masters of Time, we stripped the former masters of combined elements of their powers and banished them to the far outer reaches of Ninjago. All except for the Purple Ninja."

"What happened to him?" Jay asked cautiously.

"He was far too powerful to be able to take away his element of reality, so my brother and I begged our father for help. He weakened the Master of Reality considerably, and banished him to another realm called the 'pocket dimension'. Not long after, my father died." Wu said. "Ever since then, we called those students and the ninja the Forbidden Masters. We wiped any trace of them from history, afraid that someone might discover our mistake."

Jay was overtaken with shock. "W-What happened next?"

Wu sighed sadly. "Then Morro wanted to prove himself to be the Green Ninja."

"What? Then what?"

"Ever wondered how Morro became a ghost?"

Jay's eyes widened. He never actually thought about how Morro died. Only that he went into the Caves of Despair and never returned.

"Morro went searching for the tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master, but met someone beforehand. I found Morro's lifeless body on the dirt, and judging from the traces of violet energy swirling around him, I could only come to the conclusion that the Master of Reality had killed him first, searching in vain for the golden power."

"But why would the Purple Ninja be looking for the Golden Power?"

"So he can attain it. It's the only element he does not possess, and with the Golden Power he will achieve ultimate power and become the Cosmic Master, ruler of the dimensions. But he thought that Morro was the Green Ninja and had it." Wu finished.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry if this chapter sucks; I'm getting over a sickness and have a bad case of writer's block. And um, well Misako isn't in this chapter. Sorry.**

 **-DaStonekeeper**

* * *

Chapter Four

"Where are they now?" Jay asked, his voice low.

"Morro is in the Realm of the Departed." Wu answered.

"I mean the Purple Ninja." Jay said.

"Oh, well, unfortunately, I have received wind that the Master of Reality has managed to escape the pocket dimension he was trapped in."

A look of panic swept over Jay's face.

"Though this was many years ago, and there have been no signs of the Purple Ninja being in power or even being here in Ninjago." Wu quickly added.

Jay sighed in relief. "Good. But what if he does end up attacking us?"

Sensei Wu flinched. "If that's the case… then we'll have to stop him before he takes Lloyd's elemental powers." He explained grimly.

"But how?"

Sensei Wu sighed and stood up; obviously not wanting to carry on this conversation. Without answering Jay's question, the old sensei left the room. Jay was alone.

The lightning ninja sat in the dark, uneasy silence. Thunder clapped outside the temple, making the atmosphere almost foreboding. He couldn't believe what he was just told. More so, he couldn't believe that he couldn't tell anyone. And not telling someone something is his least favorite thing to do.

The swing of a door and sudden gasping told him that the other ninja have finally come inside, wanting to escape the storm. Through the crack under the door Jay saw the drenched shoes and clothing of the others. Their breathing sounded worn out, probably from training. Jay heard a body fall on the couch. Probably Cole, he thought.

Eventually, the blue ninja left the sensei's quarters. He was greeted with a playful punch in the arm from Kai.

"You missed out on all the fun," The fire ninja teased. "I could've used another easy opponent to dominate."

"You look like something has been bothering you. What happened?" Nya asked, noticing Jay's unnatural anxious expression.

"Oh, uh- it's nothing." Jay quickly responded. The dripping ninjas shared worried glances with each other.

"You sure?" Cole prompted. He began wringing out the rainwater from his gi.

Jay nodded, wearing his all-too familiar fake smile to ensure the ninja that nothing was wrong.

* * *

Dinner was very awkward that night. Nya knew that Jay was keeping something from her (And she _really_ hated that), and the air was really tense between the lightning ninja and Sensei Wu. Lloyd just kind of ate quietly in the background, not sure if he should say anything or not. Cole was especially bad at keeping control of his strength; as he was still getting used to having a physical body again. And Kai was suffering through every bit of it. ("Oh sorry Kai! Was that your hand? Sorry Kai! Oh, um, was that _your_ fork I just twisted?")

Finally Zane cut through the tension. "Jay, you're acting very abnormally. What did you do know?" He asked kindly. Lloyd face palmed himself, and Nya sighed in exasperation. "Zane, you can't just point out someone is being weird out of nowhere and ask them what they did now." Lloyd explained.

Zane blinked, then turned to Kai. "But is that not what you do all the time?"

Kai gaped his mouth in offense. "Well, this is different." Lloyd said for the red ninja.

Zane obviously did not understand. "I did not realize that you could only say certain things during a-"

"I have an announcement to make." Sensei Wu interrupted. All the ninja instantly turned to him.

"What is it, Sensei?" Nya asked.

"While the rest of you will be continuing on with your regular schedules, starting tomorrow Jay will be attending private training sessions with me at the Mountain of Impossible Heights, where the old monastery was located." He explained.

They all turned to Jay immediately, who was as shocked as they were. "Hey wait, wait, wait. Why Jay? Why is _he_ so special?" Kai interrogated with more than a hint of jealousy in his voice.

"Isn't obvious? Cuz' I'm better!" Jay replied, grinning like it should be obvious. "Lightning beats fire any day."

Kai shot up and banged his fists on the table. "Really? Is that so? Then how come I'm the one who gets all the fangirls?" He spat, his face turning red.

"Are you forgetting that I'm the one who saved all of your butts from the Djinn Blade? You would all still be trapped in there if it weren't for me!" Jay snapped back.

"HEY! At least _I_ didn't get Nya _killed_ in an alternate timeline!" Kai shot.

It went dead silent after that. Nya stood up. "Kai, let it go. That's enough." She said.

"Yes, Kai. Jay, you too. Fighting will get you nowhere." Wu added. Jay wasn't listening. Lightning flashed menacingly outside as the storm worsened.

"You take that back." Jay growled, his head hanging low so his hair shadowed his face. "I didn't wish it all away, like you."

Kai clenched his teeth. "I'm done here." He said. He then stomped out of the room, leaving his half-eaten plate of food on the table.

Lloyd watched him leave. "At least he didn't try to fight Jay this time. That's good right?" He suggested.

"A verbal war is just as deadly as a physical one." Zane replied grimly.

"Jay? Are you okay?" Nya said. She gestured for the other ninja to look at him.

Jay's face was still in shadow. His breathing was uneven, and his fists white. "P.I.X.A.L, do a scan." Zane muttered softly.

Nya advanced a little closer. Jay was still silent, which meant something was terribly wrong. Jay should _never_ be silent.

"Hey, Zaptrap. I'm sure Kai didn't mean it. He just doesn't like someone being better at something than him." Cole reassured the silent blue ninja.

"…Jay?" Lloyd asked, anxiety now in his voice.

"Jay, face your comrades." Sensei Wu commanded.

And so Jay did. His eyes were red and puffy and filled with tears. His cheeks were wet, but the look on his face still showed hatred towards the fire ninja. Nya gasped and swung her arms around him. Cole set a strong hand on his shoulder. "Hey man, it's all right." He said comfortingly.

"Jay… it's okay, okay? I'm right here and completely alive and healthy! Kai was just being a jerk." Nya whispered into Jay's ear. The young man took a deep, shaky breath, trying to calm himself down.

"I didn't… I didn't wish it all away." Jay said; more to himself than to the water ninja.

"No, no. You didn't. And I'm so proud of you for that." Nya replied.

"I'm going to kill Kai."

Nya released herself from their embrace. "Oh no you're not."

"Yes I am."

"No you're not."

"I'm going to do it right now."

"Jay, you murder my brother I will straight up break up with you and personally chuck you off the island myself."

Jay was quiet for a long time after that.

"…You suck."


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry that this chapter was late. I had some stuff going on that left me very little time to write. Hope you enjoy!** **-DaStonkeeper**

Chapter Five

* * *

Kai didn't return until late that night. Where he was? Jay didn't really care.

He pulled his blankets tighter as he heard the shuffling of the fire ninja's feet enter the bedroom, followed by a sigh.

After many minutes of silence, Jay was sure that he was the only one who was awake.

The quiet was unnatural to Jay, and he didn't like it. He tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. Finally, the crack of dawn found him wide awake and gazing through the dimly lit window.

The storm had passed, and the air was calm and still. Jay wondered if he would ever be able to control it.

The lightning ninja knew it was wrong for him to think this, but he wished that Morro had possessed him instead of Lloyd. A small part of him even wanted to _be_ Morro. Maybe that would help him understand where he came from.

As the sun gradually rose above the mountains in the horizon, Jay tried to fall asleep again. And he would have been successful if it weren't for Sensei Wu's rather loud intrusion.

The rumbling crash of the gong startled all of the resting ninja awake. Lloyd shot up from his bed impulsively, desperately scanning the area for a threat. Cole groaned a sound that sounded like the world's biggest toddler, and Kai nearly fell out of bed. Zane, on the other hand, gracefully sat up and got out of his resting place. He stood ready like a soldier for whatever the old sensei had to say. Jay buried his face in his pillow.

"Sensei? What is the matter?" Zane asked.

"Nothing too major. I just need Jay."

"At five-thirty in the morning?" Lloyd asked, genuinely shocked.

Jay rolled out of bed and stumbled forward. "What's going on?"

"It is time to begin your training." Sensei Wu explained simply.

"But I'm already trained."

Kai whispered something in Cole's ear that made them both snicker and Lloyd shoot them a dirty look.

Wu nodded. "This is much different than what you're used to."

Jay gazed at him in bewilderment. Lloyd looked over to the lightning ninja and mouthed, "What does he mean?" Jay shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Now quickly, get ready. We leave for the Mountain of Impossible Height as soon as possible." Sensei Wu told him.

* * *

"I now understand why they call it the 'Mountain of Impossible Height.'" Jay panted, setting his shaking foot on yet another step. Wu was already far ahead of him, so he wasn't sure if he was just talking to himself at this point. The sun was now over the horizon, turning Jay's brown hair and everything else into blazing orange. He squinted upward, and past the distant silhouette of Sensei Wu, he could almost see the ruined remains of the old Monastery.

After a million years of walking, the remains came into focus. Wu shook his head sadly after surveying the broken and charred frame of the once-been building. The sight activated both happy and sad memories in Jay's mind.

Suddenly, Wu pushed away the feelings of sorrow and continued forward. Jay scrambled after him, heaving the heavy pack of assorted training items on his back, the cloud of breath in front of his face slightly obscuring his vision.

"It's _freezing!_ " Jay complained loudly.

Wu gestured for the pack. Jay handed it to him. "It will motivate you to succeed." The sensei explained.

"I don't see how that logic works." The ninja responded, with a hint of sass hidden in his voice.

Sensei Wu took out an electric blue belt from the pack and handed it to Jay, instructing him to tie it around his waist.

"No offense Sensei, but I think I have a much higher level than a blue belt."

Wu turned to him. "Today, and for the rest of your training, that belt will not show off your status in the martial arts but the status of your elemental powers."

Jay inspected the strap of bright blue. "Aren't I learning how to control wind?" He inquired.

"Yes. You are _learning_. So I don't think you deserve this quite yet." Wu held out another cloth belt. This time it was a dark, ghostly green that sent shivers up Jay's spine and bad memories into his head. Still, it had a sort of majesty to it.

"I thought green was Lloyd's thing." He commented.

"This is a different green. Lloyd's tone of emerald represents the power and excitement of his element of energy through bright colors. This green is much calmer. It is pale yet dark, showing off the serenity of the wind. The belt's haunting color tells us just how severe air can be despite its weak-like form." Wu told.

"Just like a ghost?"

The sensei hesitated. Then, without looking the blue ninja in the eyes, he answered, "Yes. I suppose so."

Awkward silence followed.

Finally, the sensei took out yet another object. A brightly colored kite. He set it in the middle of the open courtyard of the broken monastery and beckoned for Jay to come.

"If you really do possess some form of wind element like you claim, then, with time, you should be able make this kite fly."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

* * *

Sensei Wu retreated to a shaded corner to oversee Jay's training. He began drinking tea that Jay had somehow not noticed before. The ninja brushed it off; deciding that he would ponder about his master's strange tendencies another time. He was too excited to become the Master of Wind.

Jay strolled towards the colorful kite, deciding which manner he should use to make it fly. He picked up the long string, looking at it closely. Finally, using his common sense, Jay set the string down, took a step, backward, and proceeded to wave his hands at it, trying to make the wind pick it up. Not even a breeze blew by.

Was it just Jay, or did it seem like he was only making the wind more absent? The air was as still as an untouched lake on a clear day. After many failed tries, Jay settled for his more creative, inventive mind to work this one out. Finally an idea struck him. "Sensei Wu only said to make the kite fly, he didn't say _how_." He mumbled to himself. Jay glanced in the direction of his sensei. Wu was deeply engrossed in his steaming cup of tea. Oddly enough Jay's mouth watered; not for the taste but for the warmth of the liquid.

Jay took a deep breath and took the string of the kite with one hand. With his other hand, Jay held up the kite. There was no breeze, so he wasn't sure if his attempt to make the kite fly would be successful. Whether or not it would, Jay was already getting a small feeling of guilt in the pit of his stomach. He shouldn't have to, he kept thinking to himself. This is just thinking outside the box.

Jay went to one end of the monastery, threw the kite up into the sky, and began running furiously to the other end with the string in hand, trying to keep the toy up in the air. Almost immediately it fell to the stone ground.

"I believe you have failed." He heard Sensei Wu say behind him.

Jay turned around to face the old elemental master. "I-I was just trying to keep it in the air, like you said! I didn't-" Jay began stammering.

Wu interrupted him. "No. I'm actually quite proud of you for thinking of such a quick and cunning way to make the kite fly, although it seemed as if I was implying that you needed to use your elemental power." He told him. Jay's face brightened.

"So I guess I actually didn't fail, right?" He asked hopefully.

"I still asked you to make the kite fly. Not to creatively figure out a manner of trying to do so. So you still failed." Wu answered simply. Jay's expression fell. "But what you did do showed an iconic trait of the Master of Wind: cleverness. Which -I have to admit - you've been showing from the very start."

Jay blushed a little.

"Still, it was not very wise of me to start you with something so advanced." Wu continued. Jay mentally scoffed ("Advanced? It was a freaking kite!"). "We should begin with something simpler. Come." The sensei gestured for Jay to follow him.

The lightning ninja was instructed to take a seat on a charred piece of wood that might have been a part of the monastery's framework. "For this exercise, we will be taking you out of your comfort zone in a peculiar way." Sensei Wu began. "As the Master of Lightning, you were trained to rely on quick thinking and reflexes. You had to never calm down, and never relax, because that was what you had to do to stay true to and control your element. I don't think there ever was a time when I saw you be completely still. But now, you have to do the exact opposite."

Jay was confused. "So I have to just sit here and chill?" He asked.

"Not exactly. I want you to _breath like the wind_." Wu explained. "Understand?"

Jay hesitated, then quickly replied, "No, not really."

The sensei sighed. "Here, let me try to help you. Feel the air, feel its movements. Then adjust your breathing to mimic those movements."

Jay licked his finger and raised it up to the sky. "I don't feel any wind. Does that mean I have hold my breath?"

"To a true master of the air, there is always wind."

And so Jay sat there, trying to copy the "wind" with his breath, which led to his face almost turning blue at certain points. He was told to stay sitting still on his makeshift seat, but as Sensei Wu had said before himself, it was extremely hard for Jay to relax his body and just sit motionless. In fact, restraining himself from bouncing up and down was actually tiring him out. But that didn't sway Jay's wish to be active.

Finally, after an eternity of remaining on the charred wood, Wu decided that Jay had had enough. "We should return to the island for breakfast." The sensei said.

Only when his master had mentioned food, Jay realized how ridiculously hungry he was. Jay shot up from his seat so quickly that he got a real nasty head rush and almost toppled over. I guess he got lost in La La Land while fantasizing about him and Nya.

"Over the course of the next few weeks, I want you to remember to 'breath like the wind' until it becomes a force of habit." Sensei Wu told Jay while trekking down the mountain. "It will help you harness your element of wind."

Jay simply nodded. He had made absolutely no progress today. He was starting to believe that he didn't have the powers of Morro like he thought. But Jay didn't bring it up; ninja never quit, right?

"And remember, you will not tell anyone about this until we are sure you have mastered wind." Wu added.

* * *

"-And then Zane created this shield of ice, and Kai just melted right through it and fell on Zane, and they started rolling around until I blasted them off of each other with a shower of rocks! Then Lloyd came out of _nowhere-_ " Cole was explaining enthusiastically about today's training.

"And we were locked in battle while using spinijitzu! Do you know how hard it is to throw a kick at someone who is spinning eighty miles-per-hour at the same time as _you_?" Lloyd continued.

"Then I nearly drowned _all_ of you with a tsunami!" Nya laughed.

"Excuse me, but I was perfectly fine!" Kai interrupted.

"Yeah right, you kept on whining about your 'ruined hair'! You guys were soaked to the bone!"

"Jay, how did your private training with Master Wu go?" Zane suddenly asked. Kai's expression immediately turned to resentment at the mention of Jay's special training session.

Jay, who was absentmindedly stroking his cereal with his spoon, was startled and looked up. "Hm? Oh, yeah. I-it was okay." He responded, turning back to his cold breakfast. Zane smiled and nodded, apparently content with Jay's answer.

The five went back to joking about the events that had passed while training. Jay hated not being a part of it. The Master of Wind-In-Training glanced at the clock above the doorway. A quarter to nine. Had Jay really been training for almost three hours? The very little progress he had made sunk in even deeper and made him feel even more embarrassed about his failures.

Jay already missed training with the ninja. It wasn't really the knowing that he was working hard for something that he wanted to achieve, and that every day he was inching closer towards it, but the feeling of spending time with his closest friends: his brothers. Having fun with them, messing around with them, and most importantly; making memories with them.

Finally everyone had finished their meals (Cole's was especially large). Misako had told them that Wu had wanted them to return to training. Jay stayed back, confused if he should or should not join the ninja.

"I think you ought to go with them, Jay." Misako told him. "Wu also said to remember what he wants you to remember."

Jay understood and left the room. Well, understood is a bit of an overstatement. The blue ninja was clueless until the light bulb finally clicked on inside his head. "Breath like the wind…" He muttered.

It was certainly windier up on the island than it had been on the mountain, and Jay made his best effort to "breath like it", but quickly gave up when he realized they were doing battle-training.

"Jay! Think fast!" Nya called as she hurled a sphere of water at the lightning ninja. Jay quickly dodged and attempted to shock her with a low-voltage bolt of lightning, but Nya was gone as fast as the bolt itself. Jay's mind was racing, his was not calm, and he certainly was not relaxed. And that's exactly how the blue ninja liked it.

Jay wasn't even sure if he actually wanted to become the Master of Wind after seeing what he would have to do. And what would the others think of him? Certainly Lloyd would not appreciate Jay's connections to Morro, and more importantly, how would Nya react?

But something about his unlocked potential and all the new possibilities intrigued Jay. And the nagging knowledge that the mysterious Purple Ninja might return to rule Ninjago and try to steal Lloyd's powers one day insisted that Jay has to pursue this path. Plus, ninja never quit.

After hours of intense training, the ninja were out of breath and panting on their knees, all except for Zane of course. "I think we preformed quite splendidly!" The nindroid announced joyfully. The others nodded weakly in agreement.

"Hey Lloyd-" Jay stopped mid-sentence. _Lloyd_. Lloyd was the only other ninja, or person really, who had and used the element of wind for an extended period of time. Sure, it wasn't actually _him_ using those powers, but potato-potahto, Jay thought. Lloyd must know something about how to use the element Jay was attempting to master.

After the ninja caught their breaths and were ready to begin again, Jay caught the attention of their leader.

"Hey, Lloyd! Can I talk to you for a minute?" Jay called.

"Sure, what's up?" The green ninja replied.

Oh crud. There was absolutely no way of asking this question without everything immediately becoming awkward. And now the other ninja were watching them, wondering why they hadn't begun training again.

Jay took a deep breath. "What was it like being possessed by Morro?"


	7. Burn

Chapter Seven

Burn

* * *

And the moment that Jay had been dreading. His question took most of his friends by surprise and the words from Lloyd's mouth.

With suspicion heavily imprinted into his voice, Lloyd finally gave an answer. "Why do you ask?" He responded, trying to maintain calmness in his words.

Jay searched his mind for a reply, and finally came up with the most generic and common answer he could muster. "I dunno, just wondering."

Kai glanced at the others, and already being on bad terms with the lightning ninja, he went straight for conclusions. "That's a weird thing to wonder, _Jay_. Planning something?"

Nya punched Kai in the shoulder much harder than he expected, and she shot him a dangerous look.

Jay, a little offended by Kai's assumptions, finally came up with an explanation. "You know, just in case it ever happens again."

"And why would that ever happen?" Lloyd cut in. He highly disliked this subject.

"Hey, you never know. So I was just wondering, like… how did his powers work? So, um, we don't have such a hard time defeating Morro again."

Lloyd sighed, sounding a little relieved. He was afraid that Jay had some bad news to deliver. "Well I don't really know. It wasn't really me, remember? It just felt… different."

"Don't we have to train?" Cole suddenly interrupted. Jay mentally cursed at him.

Lloyd nodded. "We'll talk about this later, 'kay?" Jay reluctantly agreed.

The air was crisp and icy, suggesting that the next storm would bring snow instead of rain. Jay could barely feel his exposed fingers and like the other ninja, he was sure he looked like Rudolph at this point.

Finally training was over, and Misako invited the sextet back into the warm temple. But instead of going straight to video games like his comrades, Jay caught the attention of Lloyd.

"So you were saying?"

Lloyd was secretly hoping that Jay would forget his little promise.

"Alright, but let's go somewhere more private. I don't like talking about these kinds of things in the open." Lloyd responded.

They exited into the empty kitchen, where the aroma of a cooking roast filled the air. Lloyd tried to find the right words. "It was different from using my actual powers." He began

"You already said that."

"Just listen. It felt like that the power wasn't coming from _me_ , but the wind was." Lloyd explained slowly.

"I don't get it."

"Let me talk. But since I could kind of _feel_ what was going through Morro's head, and I was seeing through his eyes, I could make some sort of inference of how Morro was creating that wind."

"How?" Jay asked, a little more demandingly than he meant to.

"Well… he _wasn't_ creating it. The wind was already there. I couldn't feel it, but Morro could. A-and he was doing this thing where the wind was kind of following his breath. Or maybe his breath was following the wind? I couldn't really tell. And I didn't really care. I just wanted to get him out of my body. But anyway it was like Morro was-"

"Breathing like the wind…" Jay whispered under his breath.

"Yeah, yeah! That's what he was doing!"

Jay nodded. "Thanks Lloyd." He sounded a little disappointed.

"Hey man, you okay?"

Jay smiled weakly. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit tired." He lied.

Lloyd could tell that Jay wasn't really fine, but decided not to push it. The two returned to the boys' bedroom, where the other ninja were playing some sort of fighting game and joined them.

Even Lloyd knew how to control the wind element, and he had absolutely no genetic connection to Morro. Jay began to doubt again that he was ever going to become the master of wind.

* * *

"Today we are going to try the kite again." Sensei Wu said. It was early morning again, and Jay was about ready to pass out from all the late-night gaming he had experienced the day before.

Jay went up to the brightly colored kite, ready to make an attempt to fly it like he had yesterday. A strong breeze was now blowing through the old monastery, and the lightning ninja was confident that the toy would soar through the air like it was supposed to. But Jay came across a significant problem. The string was now missing from the kite.

Jay picked up the plastic diamond. He turned around to face Wu, who was watching him closely. "Well played, Sensei. Well played." The blue ninja said slyly. The sensei smirked before taking a long sip of his steaming cup of tea.

Jay hurled the toy up into the air, hoping the wind would catch it. And it did. But… let's just say Sensei Wu had to go get a brand new kite to train with.

After strict instructions to keep the kite in one place, Jay racked his brain for a different solution to his problem. He looked around the clearing, but any materials that could have been used as a makeshift kite string were purposefully removed. Jay couldn't figure out how he would attach it to the main body anyway.

Jay eventually came up with another clever solution. He carefully set the kite on the ground, and stepped away. The blue ninja tightened the bright electric-blue belt around his waist and put his hands out in front of him. He wasn't going to try to summon wind this time. In fact, he was going to use an element he was much more comfortable with.

A flash of lightning sent the kite high into the air, and it was again swept away by the wind. Panicking, Jay threw another bolt at it and the kite caught fire. "No-no-no-no!" He cried, rushing after it.

The spirit of Morro must have felt pity on him or something, because a miraculous change in the air let the kite float gracefully back onto the ground; still in flames. Jay stamped on it madly, and the fire ceased.

The kite was charred and burnt. It was unlikely it would ever fly again. Jay picked up the smoldering remains and shuffled towards his sensei.

"I believe you have failed." Wu said when Jay stopped in front of him.

"I think we need a new kite. I'm sorry." Jay apologized. Sensei Wu stood up and walked past him.

"You tried to use a shortcut to achieve something that should be achieved through hard work and concentration."

"A trait of the master of wind, right?"

"Laziness is a trait no elemental master should possess, even the master of wind. You will continue with that kite. You have to learn there are no shortcuts in life. Or in the process of mastering a new element."

"I'm sorry."

"I appreciate your apology, but that won't change my decision. Now I think it is time for us to continue."

Training continued. Even after many days have passed, Jay felt like he had made zero progress and was no closer to becoming the master of wind, let alone the Forbidden Master of Storm.

The only thing Jay felt like for sure was that Kai was getting angrier with him each passing day. At the beginning of the new week, Kai refused to speak to his blue brother for the entire day. The next he purposefully used up all the hot water in the shower just so Jay could suffer right after. But nothing could compare to what he did today.

The sun was setting, and Jay finally had the opportunity to do what he really enjoyed. Jay threw off the white sheet covering his next creation: A prototype of what he called "The Lightning Bike."

The Lightning Bike was supposed to be a motorcycle infused with the power of lightning and was impossibly fast. Jay was eager to ride it. Unfortunately, he only had the frame finished so far.

"Sometimes I wish I had some sort of power where I could build things really fast, and like, know where everything was and where it was supposed to go." Jay mumbled to himself while searching for the welding torch. He was so close to getting the next step done.

"Your wish is yours to keep." A voice said behind him.

Jay whipped around. "Oh so you're talking to me now?" He replied angrily when he saw the fire ninja standing there instead of a djinn.

"It was a joke. Aren't you supposed to be the funny one?" Kai answered a little tauntingly. Kai inspected the unfinished vehicle on the other side of Jay. "What's that you got there?"

"Nothing."

"So you mean I could just…" Kai created a ball of flames in his hand, and inched it towards the creation.

"Hey! Don't touch that!" Jay shouted, forcing Kai's arm away.

"Then it's not _nothing_! What are you hiding, Jay?" The master of fire snapped back.

"Why don't you go bother Lloyd or someone else?"

"Cuz' if I spend any more time with him, fangirls are going to get the wrong idea!"

They both shuddered at the thought.

"Jay, I'm serious. What are you hiding? You haven't told us anything ever since you started privately training with Sensei. We're supposed to be your brothers!" Kai said, now using a much more serious tone. "We don't know if we should be suspicious or worried. What's going on?"

Jay looked away. "It doesn't matter. Now please leave me alone."

"You haven't been acting like yourself for days. Jay…" Kai looked Jay straight dead center in the eyes. "Nya is getting scared."

That took Jay by surprise. "Why would she be scared?"

"You've been acting strangely. You look like you're always paranoid, like something bad is going to happen. Zane is convinced something is wrong with your health, like you're not getting enough air. Then you ask Lloyd about Morro out of _nowhere_ -"

"It was a valid question!"

"Jay! See how you just said that? You're getting angry and raising your voice for stupid reasons! Did something happen?" Kai asked almost desperately.

Jay thought about it. Maybe he was being a little temperamental these past few days? He shoved the thought into the back of his mind. "It's nothing, okay? Now leave me alone!" Jay growled. He shouldered past his brother and walked away.

Then Kai lost his temper.

There was a loud bang and sudden heat erupting from the direction of the Lightning Bike. Jay turned around to be faced with flames covering the majority of his workspace. And with Kai's powers, so was the bike.

"Kai!" Jay gasped. He tried to get closer, but the heat was too much to bear. All he saw was the silhouette of his beautiful creation falling into pieces and melting.

Kai started to panic. "J-Jay! I'm so sorry! I didn't-"

"What part of 'leave me alone' do you not understand? GET OUT!" Jay screamed, lightning sparking in between his fingers.

* * *

The rest happened so quickly it was hard to keep track of it all. Fire alarms echoed through the rooms of the temple. Nya and two fire extinguishers were tasked to put the flames out. All that remained of Jay's workshop were the ashes of wooden tools, charred metal ones, and the melted figure of Jay's Lightning Bike that took him so long to perfect.

The blue ninja saw Kai out of the corner of his eye frantically explaining to Sensei Wu and Lloyd what happened. Jay didn't even wait for them to leave or even stop talking to Kai. Jay stomped up to the red ninja, with everyone's eyes on him, and opened his mouth. "You know what Kai? _You know what_?" He said, laughing hysterically. " _Fuc-_ "

" _Jay!_ " Nya scolded before he can finish his sentence. She put a hand over his mouth.

Kai couldn't look Jay in the eyes for the rest of the night. Not like Jay wanted to speak to him.

A storm stirred again that night. Midnight it was at its worse. The wind was howling through the nooks and crannies in the walls. Jay couldn't fall asleep. Eventually he just got up paced up and down the hallway. Something was nagging him in the back of his mind. Then through the doorway into the living room he spotted the burnt bright colors of a certain kite. Gears started turning inside the blue ninja's head.

It was a long shot of course, but Jay had a _feeling_. Maybe, just maybe, today would be the day he made that kite fly.

* * *

 **Please excuse Jay's language XP.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I am SO SO sorry for this chapter being so late! Please forgive me! I've just been so ridiculously busy these past few days, and I couldn't find enough time to write. On the bright side, I finally watched the Lego Ninjago Movie. I'm not completely sure that's a good thing in this fandom though…**

 **-DaStonekeeper**

* * *

Chapter Eight

The wind seemed to slap him in the face. The rain felt like millions of little needles pinching his skin. Every five seconds thunder crashed in the distance, and then another flash of lightning would strike followed by the very same roar. No more than three minutes have passed when Jay was already soaked to the bone and sloshing around in icy cold water flooding the temple grass. Finally he came up to a clearing where there was plenty of room to fly the dripping kite.

The wind was trying to tear the kite from his hands, but Jay tightened his grip on the diamond. If he were to throw it up into the sky, the air would sweep it away just like before. The lightning ninja tried to figure out a way to keep the toy airborne, but with the howling of wind and roaring of thunder, it was difficult to hear himself think.

Slowly, numbness was creeping up through his toes and fingers. Jay couldn't just stand out here for much longer, so he was going to do what he did best: wing it.

 _Breathe like the wind_.

What? Jay spun (Spinjitzu and all) around to see who spoke to him. No one was standing in the darkness. Then who just spoke to him?

 _Stop putting so much thought into it, you stupid ninja. Stop searching so far deep inside you for a power that has been under your nose your entire life. Breathe like the wind._

Jay swallowed. No, he was a ninja! He faced many invisible enemies before, right? He can't be afraid now!

"Wh-Who's there?" The ninja called out, his voice barely heard over the storm. No answer. "I know Spinjitzu!" He added nervously. No voice. "It must have been my imagination…"

 _Breathe like the wind._

Jay jumped and nearly shrieked when his fingers released. The kite ripped from his grasp and went soaring into the horizon. "No!" Jay screamed, trying to rush after it. But it was way beyond his reach.

 _It's right under your nose, Jay._

Jay froze in his tracks.

 _Are you supposed to be the master of wind or not?_

Jay took a deep, shaky breath.

And then he felt it. The wind lessened, and the lightning ninja could spot the silhouette of the plastic diamond flowing gently through the air.

The ninja closed his eyes. "Don't search so far deep for something that has been under your nose your entire life…" He told himself softly. And for what seemed like the first time in years, Jay completely relaxed his muscles. He took in a big gulp of air, and the wind calmed to a point where it was a mere breeze. Jay exhaled, just as a soft gust blew by, gently sweeping his loose pajamas around his legs.

He was doing it. _He was controlling the wind._ Excitement flooded Jay's insides, overcoming the bitter cold that was settling upon his body. Snow replaced the rain and Jay felt the soft, petal-like flakes falling onto his hair and face. Jay held his hands out in front of him, refusing sparks of lightning to form in his palms. He partially closed his fingers, until his index fingers were the only ones pointing outwards.

The wind redirected, carrying the kite back to him. It was a strange feeling. It was almost a feeling of _freedom_. The kite lowered until it was directly in front of the blue ninja's face. Jay tenderly pushed it back into the air, where it was carried back up in a tight spiral and was swaying back and forth high in the sky.

Jay didn't know what to make of this. He finally figured it out!

"Jay?"

The said elemental master craned his neck to look over his shoulder. The kite dropped and the color drained from Jay's face. Lloyd was standing not too far away. At first a shocked look upon his face, then quickly replaced with anger.

"I knew it." The green ninja said dangerously.

"L-Lloyd?" Jay stammered.

Lloyd advanced, clearly furious. "It's _Lloyd_. And get out of my brother's body, Morro!" He shouted.

Jay would've laughed if he wasn't so utterly terrified. Lloyd thought Morro was possessing Jay? Well, what else is he supposed to think? He just witnessed Jay manipulating the wind!

"Morro? Oh- um, yeah! Th-that's me!" Jay lied. He acted nothing like Morro.

Lloyd growled.

"H-Hey! Let's not be hasty here! Um… I-I sacrificed myself to give Sensei the Realm Crystal, right? A-And during the Day of the Departed! I helped you guys, remember?" Jay laughed nervously.

The green ninja thought about this. "Fine. You have one minute to explain why and how you're here and possessing Jay. Go."

"Morro" gaped his mouth. He tried to form words, but they got lost somewhere in his throat. The lightning ninja's mind started racing, desperate for an answer. With this, the wind picked up and the whistling was audible again, following Jay's now loss of control over it.

"W-Well, I…. I…." Jay stammered. Finally he said the first and most cliché thing that popped in his head. "This is a dream."

Jay immediately started to mentally yell at himself. _What? What are you doing? A dream? Who the heck is going to buy that?_

Jay wasn't sure if he was a good liar or if it was just dumb luck, but Lloyd's eyes widened and he began to nod his head in understandment. "A dream…? You mean… I can do whatever I want?"

"…Yes." Jay answered hesitantly. Lloyd gasped.

"Oh I love dreams like this! But why would Morro be possessing Jay in my dream?" Lloyd gasped again. "What about the others?"

Panic rose in Jay. "Th-They don't exist in this dream." He said quickly.

"Why not?"

"Because… the master of dreams won't allow it."

"There's a master of _dreams_? That's so cool!" Lloyd started smiling wildly and hopped up and down excitedly. "Can I still do whatever I want?"

"I guess?"

Lloyd clapped his hand over his mouth. There was a certain energy to him. A strange youthfulness surrounding him that made the whole world seem brighter. It gave Jay a nostalgic feeling of something that he had not felt since…before he began training to become a ninja.

Lloyd wasn't at all acting like the leader that Jay knew him so well by. Lloyd jumped around and fantasized about candy and pretended he was all sorts of things. He talked to Jay about how back at the boarding school they would pull all these pranks, and how he wanted to get back at them. Jay played along, pretending to be possessed by Morro. When a rim of red light began to creep over the horizon, Jay began to worry. What if Lloyd never went back to bed?

"Lloyd, you should probably go back to sleep." Jay insisted.

"Why?" Lloyd asked, who was pretending to fight a swarm of space-pirate-spiders.

"Because…then you'll never wake up!"

"But I don't wanna wake up!" Lloyd whined, stamping his feet. Jay gritted his teeth.

"But, you have to wake up so you can be the green ninja!"

"But I'm _already_ the green ninja! And don't _you_ want to be the green ninja?"

Jay stammered, not sure how he should answer.

"Because you _can_ be the green ninja." Lloyd said, looking at the ground. "I don't really like being it anymore."

" _What?_ Why?" Jay exclaimed.

"It's too much pressure. I feel like I have to be the best at everything. And I never really been great at leading." Lloyd sighed.

Jay put a hand on his shoulder. "You're amazing at leading, Lloyd." He insisted.

"Really? I'd like to see you try it sometime." Lloyd mumbled. "I'm not fit for the role. I... I try my best to act like an adult, but I'm still a kid inside. I'm only grown up physically, not mentally… or emotionally. I really regret making the choice to skip out on my childhood."

Jay was shocked to say the least. He never thought about it that way. He felt a pang of guilt in his gut, hating himself for not knowing Lloyd was feeling this way. Then again, he never showed it. That made Jay feel worse.

The sun was creeping over the mountains. Lloyd and Jay casted long shadows over the brilliant orange ground. In just a couple of hours the ninja would wake up to see Jay and Lloyd both missing. The lightning ninja had to act quickly to get his brother to sleep again.

"Lloyd, um, I'm sorry that you feel this way."

"I thought you'd be happy, _Morro_."

"Th-this a dream still. And, you should really get back to bed. It's getting light."

"Why does that matter?"

Jay thought rapidly. "Because when it's light, something really bad will happen. So you should go back to sleep."

Lloyd's eyes lit up. "I wanna see what happens!"

"No, no you don't. When it's light… your dream will become a nightmare!" Jay persuaded.

The green ninja's face fell. "Okay…" He muttered like a child.

Jay led Lloyd back to his bed, and the said ninja was a lot more tired than he let on. Lloyd was asleep in minutes. Jay watched him for a while, making sure that he wouldn't wake up. When he was sure he was (and when it occurred him that staring at Lloyd while he slept was an extremely weird and wrong thing to be doing) Jay crawled into his own bed and fell asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**This is a really short chapter… eh…**

 **-DaStonekeeper**

Chapter Nine

* * *

Jay did not wake up at five am the next morning. Instead he was woken up along with the other four ninja he shared a room with much earlier by Wu's gong. But the sensei did not let the green, red, white, and black ninja go back to sleep like he usually did. Instead he ordered them to get into their ninja garbs and then meet him outside.

The first thing that Jay noticed was that Lloyd has completely abandoned his childish behavior from last night, acting like… well, Lloyd. The second thing he noticed was that what little sunlight there was this early in the day illuminated the white, soft snow that blanketed the ground. Winter was right around the corner.

When the five male ninja shuffled their tired butts outside, they realized that Nya was already there wide awake.

"Do you have some sort of teleporting powers you're not telling us about?" Kai asked his sister.

"If I did, then I would be the one leading this boys' club." She replied cunningly.

Cole rubbed his eyes and approached Sensei Wu. "Why are we here and not in our beds?" The earth ninja asked grumpily.

"You will find that out once I tell you. Now, we received another distress call from Jamanakai Village."

"Another one? This better be good, or I'm leaving." Jay commented.

"Please, you weren't even there last time."

"Shut up, Kai."

* * *

The ninja were bewildered when they arrived at the mountain-side village. Most homes were ruined, toppled food carts littered the ground, and the fountain was broken, spraying icy water all over the surrounding area. Crying children were everywhere, being comforted by their families who were just as shaken.

Nya gasped. "What happened?"

"I don't think this is a just a false alarm…" Lloyd commented gravely.

Cole walked up to a man no younger than he was who was white in the face and shaking with fear. "What happened here?" He asked the terrified victim.

The man swallowed. "W-We were attacked," He whispered breathlessly.

"By who?"

The man buried his face in his hands and ran off, crying. Cole took a step back.

"Brothers, I think I discovered some valuable information from a villager." Zane called a little ways away. The ninja and sensei immediately flocked to the titanium ninja. Next to him was a paranoid-looking teenage girl who kept glancing around as if expecting something to jump out from the shadows. "Tell them what happened, miss." Zane said tenderly.

"I-It was the middle of the night… a-and there was this screaming…" She began. The group was listening intently.

"Go on…"

"And there was this… this light. It was in the shape of a human, a-and..." The girl's eyes filled with tears. "A-and it took my neighbor and shouted at him asking where the green ninja was,"

Everyone looked at Lloyd.

"And w-when he answered that he didn't know… the he just _vaporized_. T-There wasn't even dust or ashes w-where he was. E-Every part of him had just disappeared into thin air." A sob escaped her throat. Zane set a caring hand on the innocent girl's shoulder. "And then i-it just went on a rampage, yelling at people to tell it where… where the green ninja was." She cried.

Lloyd stared at the girl in bewilderment. Someone had died, maybe murdered, all by someone who was apparently hunting him down. Why? He didn't know.

But they all knew that this wasn't like any of the other foes they have fought before. This one was willing to have people die, even kill them themselves.

Master Chen, Morro, even Garmadon would never do something as cruel as this.

Think I'm overreacting? Well, that girl's neighbor wasn't the only one who was killed.

After a thorough investigation, the ninjas counted up at least twenty-two deaths, all by the same _light_. Some vaporized, some just fell to the ground dead, and others simply withered into a skeleton in the blink of an eye. The whole ordeal was terrifying. But it was hard to tell which one was more horrified, the villagers or the ninja themselves.

"This is scary," Jay said anxiously once the family rejoined in the center of the village.

"Why would this guy-"

"Or girl!"

"-Be searching for me so desperately?" Lloyd asked.

Sensei Wu stroked his beard. "I may have an idea, but I can't be sure. I would like to speak with Jay alone." He announced. Kai stifled a groan.

The rest of the ninja left (A certain fire-themed one very reluctantly) the two, and Jay turned to his sensei nervously. "Yes, Master Wu?"

"Looking at all the evidence, I have some very grave news to share." He replied, gazing past Jay more than at him.

Jay swallowed. "You don't think…"

"Jamanakai Village was attacked by the Purple Ninja? Yes, I think so." The sensei sighed as if he had suddenly aged ten years. "I don't think we'll be able to stop him, even with my nephew or any of the other ninja."

"But we can't just give up!"

"I never said we were."

Jay bit his lip, completely dumbfounded.

"The only thing to have even the slightest chance of defeating him is another Forbidden Master. Which is you, but you are nowhere close to even mastering wind." Wu explained.

Jay mentally gasped. That's right! "Sensei that reminds me, you will never believe what happened last night!"

And so Jay told the story, purposely leaving out the fact about Lloyd running into him halfway through the lightning ninja's test of his newfound ability. After he finished, he expected Sensei to be excited, or at least surprised. He only simply nodded and stroked his beard some more as a response.

"This is certainly good news…"

 _No duh,_ thought Jay. "So what now? Am I a Forbidden Master?"

"You guys done chit-chatting or what?" Kai called impatiently.

"Kai!" Nya scolded.

"No, no. Let him come. In fact, all you ninja can come back." Wu said.

Each of the ninja's head's perked out from behind a house, one by one. Then came the immediate scramble to Sensei Wu and Jay, each ninja eager to find out more about the situation.

"So what's going on?" Cole asked excitedly.

"Yeah, who did this?" Lloyd added.

"You boys need to learn how to chill." Nya said, rolling her eyes.

"How can one 'chill'? Do they become cold?" Zane asked.

Nya took a deep breath and exhaled very slowly.

"Sensei, who is this new foe?" Kai questioned formally, trying to show off.

Jay muttered some not-so-nice words under his breath towards Kai.

"Someone who I have not seen in a very long time. And I'm not completely sure if I am correct-"

"Who?" Lloyd prompted.

"Just to let you know, I really hope that I am wrong,"

All the ninja (Even Jay) leaned in closer eagerly.

"The Purple Ninja." Wu finally said.


	10. Chapter 10

**Oh wow, I just got back from vacation and didn't have any time to write during the downtime. Sorry…**

 **-DaStonekeeper**

* * *

Chapter Ten

Cole snorted. " _The Purple Ninja?_ You're joking."

"So? What about it?" Jay snapped back.

"I'm sorry, I was just expecting a name that was a little more… well, _menacing_." Cole replied with a shrug.

"Yeah… that doesn't sound real evil," Kai said.

"Whatever his-"

"Or her!"

"-Name is they belong in jail with the other villains." Lloyd said, pounding his fist on his open palm.

"Did you know about this?" Zane asked Jay.

Jay bowed his head, not saying anything. Technically, he still couldn't talk about it. He swore on an oath. But his silence was enough to give his fellow ninjas a definite answer.

"I can't believe you! Why didn't you tell us? You're supposed to be our brother!" Kai said angrily. Jay was taken back.

"Kai, he _is_ your brother! Now stop yelling at him!" Nya responded.

"Well, he should've said something." Cole admitted, not daring to meet anyone's eyes.

"I think we are all getting a little out of hand here!" Lloyd shouted above the now arguing voices. When they didn't go silent, Zane whistled very loudly. They all became quiet.

Lloyd flushed red when they all- minus the white ninja- glared at him. He turned to Sensei Wu. "Sensei, as you were saying?"

Wu nodded gratefully. "Thank you, Lloyd. The Purple Ninja was an old ally of the elemental masters. Unfortunately, he turned to the side of evil. Now he has become the most dangerous being ever known."

"You say _being_ , as if he is not human." Zane pointed out.

"He's not. At least, not anymore." Wu continued. The ninjas shared nervous glances.

"So is that who the Light was? The Purple Ninja?" Nya asked.

"I'm afraid so."

They were all speechless. Kai spoke up.

"Oh c'mon, he can't be that dangerous. No worse than Lord Garmadon!" He said enthusiastically.

Lloyd looked away.

"Oh, uh, sorry Lloyd." Kai apologized quickly. After the green ninja mumbled his forgiveness Kai continued. "He can't be anything that a nice, hard hit can't fix!" Kai reassured.

"I'm afraid that it will take much more than a 'nice, hard hit' to even affect The Purple Ninja." Sensei Wu explained rubbing his temples.

Kai crossed his arms defiantly.

It took all Jay had not to roll his eyes at his brother.

"Well, whoever this guy is, we can get him. Right team?" Lloyd encouraged hopefully.

The other ninja all mumbled words of agreement, even though they did not believe it themselves. In the pit of Jay's stomach, a growing dread formed.

He had a very, very bad feeling about this.

* * *

When the ninja returned to the Temple of Airjitzu, snow began falling lightly on the grounds. Even if it still took some effort, Jay now understood how to breathe like the wind.

Around lunch time, while he was minding his own business by gazing longingly at the ruins of his Lightning Bike prototype, he heard footsteps behind him.

Jay turned around. "Oh, hey, Sensei." He said when he saw him standing in the doorway. "Is something wrong?"

"Over time you learn that there is always something wrong, no matter how perfect things may be. But that is not why I am here." Wu replied. "Earlier this morning, at the village, you explained to me that you have learned to gain control of the wind."

Jay returned to staring at his broken creation. "Oh, I did, didn't I?" He said distractedly.

"I would like for you to demonstrate those powers for me once again, if you can."

That snapped Jay back into reality. After quickly remembering where he was and what the heck is happening at the moment, he nervously said, "W-Well, of course I can."

"Then show me."

Jay slowly stood up and swallowed. _Okay, you can do this. You did it before, shouldn't be that hard. I mean, it can't be. This is you we're talking about._ He quickly pushed the feelings of anxiety away and calmed himself, relaxing every muscle in his body, including his mind.

They were inside the melted and charred workshop of the temple. Although most items were ash, the roof and walls were still intact. Never in his life had Jay tried to summon wind from indoors.

Wu was staring patiently at him, waiting for Jay to begin. The said blue ninja felt a little anxious and rushed. Lightning flickered in his hands and buzzed through his hair. Jay took a deep breath and forced the electricity away.

Jay slowly inhaled through his nose. A gentle breeze swept through the room, ruffling the blue ninja's light brown hair. When he cracked open one of his eyes, Jay could see the impressed face of his sensei. Jay exhaled. The wind blew a little harder in the opposite direction.

 _Okay. You've gotten this far. Don't get too excited. You can't lose control now. STAY CALM,_ Jay thought to himself. Wu was stroking his beard in amazement.

Jay risked trying to focus and direct the wind. And so he did. The ashes of the room that was once in flames swept along the walls and a spiraling formation. Jay willed the wind to blow harder. The dust seemed to form a tornado around the two, but none strayed towards them.

Then the part of Jay that was hyper, excitable, and certainly not calm broke through his mental barriers. Energy fueled by excitement flooded Jay, and his mouth formed into a wide smile as he restrained himself from jumping up and down. Lightning crackled between his fingers in bright blue arcs. Static electricity violently flickered through his hair, and Jay's eyes began to glow the bright blue they did when excessive amounts of elemental energy was finally breaking out of the prison that was his body.

He was losing control of the wind and his lightning, which was something that Jay thought would never happen again.

Ash suddenly flew at their faces, covering their body with soot. Just as quickly the fierce wind blew it off, stealing their breath away and leaving them gasping for air. Lightning exploded off of the walls.

The ash was stinging Jay's eyes, and he could barely keep them open enough to see the silhouette of Sensei Wu covering his mouth and nose with his hands.

Jay wasn't even sure how this dust and lightning storm was still continuing. He wasn't doing anything to will it. Lightning struck again, creating an earsplitting boom of thunder.

Jay wasn't sure how he could stop this, or how much longer they could stand there until they suffocated to death or got electrocuted.

Moments passed until an icy chill suddenly went up Jay's right arm, then another on Jay's left arm, making them both feel heavier than they should be. The whole room became as cold as the dead of winter, and the indoor storm ceased.

The particles of dust and ash slowly drifted to the ground as if it was snow. And with the glittering frost that was forming, they certainly looked the part. That's when Jay realized that both of his arms were covered in a thick layer of ice.

And standing at the front of the room with the door closed behind him was the ice ninja himself.


	11. Chapter 11

**GUYS! I'm not dead! Long story short, I was in a musical and it took up like all of my time. So I never had the opportunities to create a new chapter (I've been working on this one for about three months). And I'm so sorry for leaving all of you on a cliff-hanger. I'll do better to post more often. Just don't rat me out in the comments.** **-DaStonekeeper**

 **Word of the Chapter: "Perturbed"** _ **-**_ _ **(Adjective)**_ **Anxious or unsettled; upset.**

* * *

Chapter Eleven

Jay was expecting Zane to look shocked, or even startled to say the least, but Zane's face was expressionless; not showing any signs of surprise. When their eyes met, the ice ninja let a small smile shine through. "You might want to wash your clothes." He said.

Jay looked down at his garbs. They were completely covered with a thick layer of soot. Sensei Wu's looked the same. Jay could feel the ash on his face and in his hair. When he blinked, it stung his eyes.

Jay laughed nervously. "Well, how about that…" Finally it came upon him that Zane might have witnesseed everything that had just happened. And it seemed that Wu realized the same.

"How long were you here?" Sensei Wu asked, smoothing out his sleeve.

"I heard thunder, but there was no storm. So I followed the sound here and entered the room approximately twenty-three seconds ago." Zane explained obediently.

Jay reached to fiddle with his hand nervously, but remembered the ice that was preventing him from doing so.

"Um… c-can you get this off?" The lightning ninja asked timidly.

"Of course."

The ice suddenly dissolved. Jay massaged his limbs to warm them back up.

Zane stepped forward, his feet leaving prints in the dusty floor. "May I ask what recently took place? My logical thinking skills are failing to comprehend the events that had just occurred."

Jay swallowed. "Sensei? May I?"

Sensei Wu nodded his head slowly. "There's no use in denying it now."

Jay took a deep breath and turned to Zane reluctantly. "You can't tell anyone yet, but…"

"I promise not to repeat any of this information to any being dead or alive without your permission." Zane reassured.

"Can I trust you?"

Zane looked at his brother sympathetically. "If there was never a time you couldn't trust me, why would there be one now? Of course, if you do not wish to speak than I will not disallow you to."

Jay stared down at his feet. "Okay... I'm training with Sensei to get wind powers." The blue ninja said swiftly and awkwardly.

Zane widened his eyes. "Is that why there was a dust storm when I arrived? You were demonstrating your element of wind?"

"It was an accident…"

Zane bit his lip. "Well, this certainly creates many more questions than answers. How can you be the master of lightning and master of wind at the same time? Certainly that much power to one person would be dangerous."

"It's kind of hard to explain…"

"And it is information that is highly confidential." Wu interrupted.

Jay could detect a sliver of disappointment inside his nindroid brother as the corner of Zane's mouth twitched. But he upheld his noble and unquestioning nature all the same.

"Of course. Very well then… but why do you wish to keep it a secret from your brothers and Nya? Surely they deserve to know the reason of why you've been so distant?"

Jay furrowed his brow. Why _did_ he have to keep it a secret? Wouldn't it be much easier to just let the other ninja know?

"That is also best kept unknown to the others." Sensei explained. He then walked past Zane. "Jay, I do have to say I am impressed by what you have accomplished. But you are still far from mastering wind." Wu said. He left the room, leaving Jay and Zane by themselves. They stood there silently for a long time.

"Hey, Zane?" Jay finally said.

"Yes?"

"You're not mad, are you?"

"Why would I be?"

"I'd thought that you would feel it's unfair that you couldn't know anything about my new powers."

"It wasn't your choice to hide your powers from your brothers. It was Sensei's. And Sensei Wu always has good reasons for his actions, no matter how irrational they may seem."

Jay thought about this. Sensei Wu was a wise, respectable man. His reasons for this seemingly illogical rule had to be good and reasonable.

"Thank you for understanding." Jay finally said. Zane nodded with a warm smile and left the room.

A lot has happened in the past month or so. It was all so hard for Jay to take in. He found out he was related to a former enemy, he discovered some new powers he never thought he had, and this mysterious "Purple Ninja" who seemed to almost definitely be a bad guy returned and wanted Lloyd's powers. What else would come next?

* * *

December rolled around plunging Ninjago into a biting chill. Meteorologist stated that this winter was the coldest in years. Cole returned last week from a scouting mission with severe frostbite and Nya's powers were malfunctioning, for she was the master of water, not the master of ice.

Kai seemed to complain every day about how cold it was, and Zane insisted that they should "play in the snow"; a suggestion only Lloyd seemed to be fond of.

But worse than frostbite or complaints, more ambushes from the Purple Ninja came that sent Ninjago City into paranoia.

"It appears that the Purple Ninja is attempting to lure Lloyd out as opposed to finding him himself." Zane announced when analyzing the pattern of attacks.

Lloyd fiddled with a pencil, highly uninterested in this news. He was used to people hunting him down by now.

"Are we gonna let him have Lloyd?" Kai asked.

"Well, of course not!" Nya replied with an angry tone.

Kai backed away, putting his hands in the air as a sign of surrender. Nya scoffed and turned to look the other direction.

"I don't know. I mean, I can take him." Lloyd pointed out.

"With the way Master Wu has been describing the Purple Ninja, he might give you a run for your money, kid." Cole responded.

Zane looked at Jay, who has been standing a little ways off from the group. "What kind of action do you think we should take, Jay?"

Jay, shocked by this sudden question, gazed wide-eyed at his brethren.

"Dude, the Purple Ninja is destroying everything and everyone. But we can't let him have a chance to have Lloyd. What d'you say?" Kai asked.

"M-Maybe we try to fight back, but leave Lloyd here?" Jay suggested. It felt strange to be speaking so directly to all the ninja at the same time. Now a days, Jay preferred to keep to himself and stay quiet- The exact opposite of what he's known for.

While the ninja considered this suggestion (Lloyd loudly protested against it) Jay lost focus and his mind drifted elsewhere. That seemed to happen a lot during team meetings.

Weird things that were completely out of character for Jay happened quite frequently lately; especially when interacting with the other ninja. Jay decided to talk to Sensei Wu about it, but he said that it's just because Jay was so busy with becoming the master of storm and such. Jay had feeling it was something much greater than that.

Every night, the blue ninja would lay awake in bed unable to sleep. During the day, he was in a state of inattentiveness that could only be described as "his head was in the clouds". A ninja that could not remain focused was not much of a ninja at all.

Despite Jay's inability to pay attention to the matter at hand and the freezing cold weather, his training to become the elemental master of wind and then storm did not relent. It grew more challenging, as Jay now was tasked with making a wide array of different objects fly- including himself.

The wooden plank toppled over as the unnatural current of air blew as hard as Jay could make it. He was sweating now, and the drops of sweat froze and stuck to his clothes and face. The hard part was getting the wind _under_ the object to make it fly, as Jay was no longer allowed to throw it up in the air.

 _Concentrate, Jay. Concentrate_.

Jay told this to himself nonstop as the piece of wood rolled farther and farther away from him and not an inch into the air. His hands shook with chill and exhaustion. He didn't even know why he was still putting his hands out in front of him like he did with lightning. Wind was something more controlled with the mind and not the body.

"Don't weaken your influence on the wind, Jay. Push harder." Wu told from behind him. Jay questioned how hard he could push before he collapsed. For a split second he thought the plank rose upwards a little bit, but he quickly realized that it was just being pressed against the wall of the monastery. Jay got a slab of wood to roll directly from one end of the monastery to the other. Go him.

Jay inhaled and exhaled very slowly. He can do it now. He knows he can. But the Jay's deep concentration was broken by a sudden gasp and the shatter of glass coming from behind him. Jay quickly turned his head around as far as it could go, giving him slight whiplash. He didn't even notice that one side of the wooden plank was hovering slightly above the ground.

Wu had dropped his tea cup on the floor. He was now urging Jay to come to him, so the blue ninja did.

"Sensei Wu?"

"We must return to the temple. Now."

"But we still have an hour le-" Jay wasn't able to finish his sentence. Wu had rushed out of the structure and down the mountains steps. Jay needed to run to catch up with him. What could possibly be happening at the ninja's headquarters that was making Sensei Wu so perturbed?

* * *

Horrible, horrible things were happening at the ninja's headquarters. Or _happened_ , for by the time Jay and Sensei Wu had arrived back at the temple of airjitzu, everything had fallen apart and had been destroyed.

And Nya was nowhere to be found.


	12. Chapter 12

**Is it hard to believe that we're almost at the middle of the story? I planned this whole fiction to only be about twenty-six or twenty-five chapters….. And we're nowhere close to where I want to be. (I can't seem to move things along, can't I?) I know it's early, but I want to start thinking about the next fanfiction I'm going to write. It's more than likely it'll be another Ninjago one. So at the end of some chapters I'll make a list of two or three (or more) ideas that you, as the reader, can comment which one you would like to read. And just comment anything nice in general; I really enjoy reading your guys' words. It motivates me to write more often!**

 **-DaStonekeeper**

 **Word of the chapter: "Hysterical"-** _ **(Adjective)**_ **Deriving from or affected by uncontrolled extreme emotion.**

Chapter Twelve

Jay stared wide-eyed at the wreckage. A good portion of the roof of the temple had collapsed in on itself. Trees dotting the area were uprooted and were laying a distance from their original places. The ground was cracked as if an earthquake had struck.

Master Wu stroked his beard with a worried look in his eyes. Jay stared wide-eyed at the unconscious ninja.

Kai was the first to come to.

* * *

"You know, we could've used the help a _certain lightning ninja_ in this attack!" Kai growled. The gentle whirring of machinery announced to the group that Zane's systems were waking up again.

"Strange. It seems that I was disabled by an electromagnetic pulse…." Zane trailed off when noticing the disaster that surrounded him. "Oh dear…."

"Kai, Zane, what happened here?" Wu asked, surveying the area.

Kai stood up with great effort. A purple bruise was swelling on the side of his forehead. "We were assaulted. It was so sudden, no one was ready. Good thing Misako was gone during the strike. We probably wouldn't have been able to protect her."

"I have great confidence that Misako would've been able to protect herself." Wu stated. "Zane, you said something about being disabled?"

"Yes, Sensei. An EMP knocked me out before I could even get a glance at the attacker. But my calculations suggest that it was the Purple Ninja." The ice ninja explained.

"Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't know. But the others would. If Nya were here she would be able to tell us if it was the Purple Ninja or not. Last I saw before my systems shut down, Nya was right in front of the attacker, hoping to knock them out before they knocked _us_ out." Zane said. Kai and Jay quickly turned to Zane.

" _If_ she was here?" Kai exclaimed.

"She's not here now?" Jay questioned, panicked. But it was true. After a quick look around the floating island, Jay realized Nya was gone. And it seemed she was the only one missing.

Kai, ignoring the pain in his body, scrambled into what was left of the temple, calling out in vain for a sister that simply was not there.

* * *

Kai refused to believe that Nya was dead. "There's no body!" He said, once everyone was awake and being tend to. "If the Purple Ninja killed her, then we would've seen a body!"

"Kai, I can't bear the thought of Nya being gone either. But it's the only thing that makes sense. Sensei said it himself. Nya is probably dead." Lloyd said gravely, securing the bandages on his bleeding leg.

Kai picked up the ice pack he was supposed to be putting on his bruise and threw it at a collapsed wall. Zane left to go retrieve it.

"But if the Purple Ninja wanted Lloyd's powers, why did he kill Nya?" Cole pointed out.

"HE DIDN'T KILL NYA!" Kai screamed. He turned to look at Jay with watery eyes. "You loved her too, didn't you? Say it! _Say that she's not dead!_ "

Jay looked away. He was too in shock to really say anything. He too didn't want to believe Nya had been killed. But between you and me, Jay is a bit smarter than Kai and was far more willing to face the facts. Still, a tiny speck of hope lived on that thought Nya wasn't dead. But what else could have happened to her?

 _Why is it that my only living descendent is a complete idiot?_

Jay inwardly gasped. It was the voice again!

 _If you deny Nya is dead, she probably isn't. So go use that so-called brain of yours and think about it._

What? Nya _wasn't_ dead? Jay remembered what Zane had said. _"It appears that the Purple Ninja is attempting to lure Lloyd out as opposed to finding him himself."_

Nya was being used as bait to lure the Ninja out of the safety of the temple. Maybe.

 _Nice to know you_ do _have a brain in there._

Shut up, Jay thought. Jay returned to reality, having completely tuned it out to think. Kai was yelling again, tears now openly running down his face. Cole was trying to comfort him and Lloyd was doing his best to handle the scene as Zane was returning with a dust-covered ice pack.

"I don't think Nya is dead." Jay said confidently.

"Oh Jay, not you too?" Cole said desperately.

"You don't honestly think-" Lloyd began.

"The Purple Ninja could have taken her hostage."

Everyone suddenly became silent.

"That's not….. An impossible outcome." Zane said slowly.

"Very wise, Jay. The Purple Ninja might be using Nya to lead us away from the temple; the one place he can't take Lloyd's powers." Sensei Wu added.

"Why can't he take my powers here?" Lloyd asked.

"The Temple of Airjitzu formerly belonged to Sensei Yang, who didn't approve of unnatural transferring of elements. So he placed a powerful 'spell' over the grounds that would prevent it. As far as I know, this temple is the only place in Ninjago that has this kind of protection." Wu explained.

"Huh. How convenient." Cole said.

Kai bolted upright. "Then let's go save my sister!"

"Kai, it isn't as simple as that. We don't know where she is being kept. We don't even know _if_ she's being kept!" Lloyd responded.

"N-No. She's alive." Jay stuttered.

"You don't sound too sure about that." Cole stated.

"I am."

"How do you know this?" Zane asked suspiciously.

Jay thought about the voice. Yeah, he could just say " _A person inside my head told me so._ " But he didn't know how well the ninja would take that response.

"I just know, okay? You have to trust me."

Voices. _Voices._ If any of the others knew about this, they would certainly think that Jay was hysterical. So he didn't tell any of the others; not even Sensei Wu. But it was too late to say anything now. Jay was leading an expedition to find and rescue Nya that might be an expedition in vain. The lightning ninja had no idea why he was putting so much trust into this voice. It wasn't even his own! Yet, it was eerily familiar. Like, Jay knew it was the voice of someone he knew… but couldn't remember who.

* * *

"Jay, you have to be absolutely serious about this because there is no turning back." Lloyd said.

"I am."

"If this is a joke, then it's not cool anymore, dude." Cole added.

"This isn't a joke."

"Are you sure you're not just being delusional? All though you've shown no signs of hysteria, this whole mission could be driven by the denial stage of loss." Said Zane gently.

"Guys, I get it, okay? But I'm sure about this." Jay lied. He was listening to a _voice inside his head_. Maybe he _was_ mentally ill?

Kai stepped really close to Jay. He leaned forward so much their noses were nearly touching. "I'm putting all my trust and faith in you to save my sister. You break my heart, I break you." The fire ninja threatened in a low voice that would strike fear into the heart of Lord Garmadon himself.

Jay gulped and nodded. This was it.

"So where do we begin, _Master Jay_?" Lloyd asked mockingly.

For the first time in what seemed like forever, Jay's mouth formed a sincere grin. _Master Jay_. He could get used to that title, even if was just to tease him.


	13. To Be or Not to Be

**Eh... Oh boy. Never thought I'd return to this again. _Please_ don't call me out!**

 **Word of the chapter: "Tenacious"-** _ **(Adjective) Not readily relinquishing a position, principle, or course of action; determined.**_

 **And also, the voice is indeed quoting Hamlet's "To Be or Not to Be" monologue, which I shortened for convenience.**

Chapter Thirteen: To Be or Not to Be

"We should begin by figuring out all the possible places the Purple Ninja could be holding Nya hostage." Lloyd said, standing up. He leaned against a fallen wall for support; his twisted and bloody leg refused to have any pressure applied to it.. "Sensei, do you have an idea? You know this guy better than any of us."

"The Purple Ninja was very secretive and rarely talked about himself. He tended to be a little reckless and even clumsy, but always got the job done." Wu explained. "Of course, that was before he gained his powers. It's hard to predict his actions as the Master of Reality."

"So we don't know anything. Great." Kai said bitterly.

"Oh, stop being so moody." Jay told Kai. "We'll figure it out eventually."

"As you all know, the Purple ninja is not hesitant to hurt others if he has to. But before he received his powers, the ninja preferred to keep the least amount of people involved as possible. If that hasn't changed, then it's safe to say he has taken Nya somewhere far away from civilization."

"Like the desert?" Cole suggested.

"That is possible." Wu answered.

"So you are suggesting that we first search the desert for Nya?" Zane asked.

"Alright then, let's go!" Kai cut in, standing up.

"Now, hold on just a moment! I want to save Nya just as much as all of you do, but don't you see that we are a little unprepared to face the Purple Ninja again?" Lloyd pointed out, waving his hands to the ruins and rubble around him. "Not to mention that most of us are injured - physically-" Lloyd looked at Kai. "-and mentally. We need to prepare ourselves and at least recover a little bit before we jump into battle again."

"But what about Nya?" Kai said, glaring at Lloyd.

"We are going to save her when we are ready."

Kai opened his mouth to shoot something back, but Zane placed a hand on his shoulder. "We'll rescue her. But Lloyd is correct, you're terribly injured."

Kai rubbed his head, which pounded with pain. His eyes were slightly cross-eyed and he felt very light-headed, but Kai was tenacious. "We don't have that kind of time. I'll recover _after_ we get Nya back."

"Now you're just acting stupid." Jay responded. He crossed his arms as if to prove his point.

Kai turned to stare down Jay, fury burning in his eyes. " _I'm_ stupid? Name one stupid thing I've done!"

"I could name twenty." Jay sneered. An out-of-character slyness snuck its way into his tone.

Kai balled his fists; he was incensed. Jay realized that he flipped a switch and his heart pounded. The blue ninja has rarely felt afraid of one of his own teammates.

Suddenly, Kai took a deep breath. This was not how a ninja should treat his brother, even if he was acting like an anacondai. "Whatever." Kai muttered resentfully, turning away.

"Fighting will not bring Nya any closer to us. We must ready ourselves for another battle!" Lloyd commanded. "Now come on!"

And so the ninja spent that day preparing and putting themselves back together- literally and figuratively. They agreed that there was no point in rebuilding the temple, at least not now. But little do our heroes know there was something else brewing well outside of New Ninjago City...

* * *

"Never have I thought I'd see your face again, Manipulation." The dark figure said.

"You know that's not my name _Wild._ " The other hissed back. "Now, where are the others?"

"Either dead or in hiding. But- would you believe- Storm has an heir."

"I would not believe. An heir?"

"That insolent boy had a sister who had a grandson, and that grandson has abilities. _Natural_ abilities."

"Natural? What a pity. We could've used a helper."

"Don't give up so soon, Manipulation."

"That's not my name."

"That grandson is going to bring back the Purple ninja!"

Manipulation's eyes widened. "The Purple Ninja? You mean-"

"Shh! Don't say his name! If the Purple Ninja regains full power, he can restore our abilities!"

Manipulation couldn't believe it. It wasn't possible, was it? "But he'd have to kill Little Garmadon."

"So? A small price to pay for ultimate power!"

Manipulation hesitated. Her heart had softened over the years, and murder seemed like a rather… _unefficient_ option.

"If he collects the Golden Power he can cure Ellie."

Manipulation was silent for a long time. The Master of Wild could not work out what she was thinking.

"Fine. Where's Storm?"

"I'd knew you'd come around."

" _Where's Storm?_ "

Wild grinned nastily. He did not have a pretty smile. "Somewhere along the coast. He has become quite fond of creating hurricanes, even in the dead of winter."

"And so I've noticed. Many suffer at his hands."

"Tsk, tsk. It's just Storm being Storm. Nothing will stop him from having his fun."

"Even at the cost of lives?"

"In the end, it won't matter. We will reign over all of Ninjago, dead and alive." Wild laughed maniacally, stroking his sinister-looking fox.

Manipulation did not join Wild in his cheering. She had a sinking feeling that something bad was going to occur, but she needed to do this for Ellie.

* * *

We arrive back at the temple of Airjitzu almost two days later, when clear skies dominate the heavens above. The atmosphere seemed too perfect for such a grave event. Today, the ninja were going to recapture the Master of Water. They had agreed that they would first search the dessert, assuming that the Purple Ninja was staying true to his character and was avoiding public. But today, this attempted rescue of Nya Smith wasn't the only major occurrence about to happen in Ninjago. Today, Hurricane Gavin had just struck the south coast of Ninjago.

Not only that, but today the beautiful and generous Princess Harumi has decided that she wanted to be more than just a royal who gets everything she wants. She was going to cause major destruction to Ninjago one day, even if this timeline might not come to that place and time.

Meanwhile, Jamanakai Village was slowly rebuilding itself. However, the effort would soon prove void in the near future- _very_ near future.

"Nothing." Kai growled, staring at the ground. The ninja searched and searched for hours on end, but there was nothing in the dessert except for sand, rocks, and… sand.

"That doesn't mean can give up!" Jay reassured. "We'll just have to find her elsewhere!"

Cole watched the two squabble. It's been two days and no prevail, yet the masters of lightning and fire still insisted on searching for Nya. He was ready to accept the fact that she was dead, and the black ninja could figure that the others were as well.

"So where do you suggest we look next?" Lloyd asked bitterly, limping towards the group.

Jay hesitated. He was sure he'd find Nya in the dessert. Was the voice wrong?

 _Oh please. You're not looking hard enough. I'm_ _ **never**_ _wrong._

Jay furrowed his eyebrows. Each day, the voice seemed more and more familiar, yet he still couldn't place it's owner. Despite that mystery, the person inside his head has revealed itself to be quite cynical and snide. But most importantly, it was young. Not much older than Jay himself. Maybe younger.

 _Let's stop thinking about me. Why don't you check a place you'd least suspect?_

 _Why don't you just tell me?_ Jay thought.

 _You know I won't do that, ninja. I don't want to._

 _Aren't you supposed to help me?_

 _I'll be the one that decides what I'm supposed to do._

Jay was about to think of something snarky in response, but a hard punch on the shoulder interrupted his "conversation" and nearly knocked him off his feet.

"Jay! _Jay!_ You've been staring off into space for the past minute! You okay, dude?" Cole questioned sharply.

Jay righted himself. "What? Oh! Yeah, um… let's go search…"

 _A place you'd least suspect._

"Jamanakai Village."

Confusion swept the remaining ninja's faces. Jamanakai Village? Didn't the Purple Ninja just tear that place to shreds?

"Jamanakai? What makes you think Nya's there?" Kai asked disbelievingly.

"I just have a feeling."

"Don't you think that maybe your 'feelings' are getting a little out of hand?" Lloyd commented. "They took us to the desert in the middle of winter. An _empty_ desert, mind you!"

"That was different. This- _Jamanakai Village_ \- is where we'll get Nya back, I'm positive." Jay lied. "You can yell at me all you'd like if I'm wrong."

"I'll do more." Kai responded belligerently.

"No one will be doing anything to anyone!" Lloyd cut in. "You two have been acting like toddlers for the past month! Get a hold of yourselves and grow up! We're going to Jamanakai Village." He slowly turned his body and limped away. "Move it!"

Lloyd was never this stern with the ninja, so the four "men" timidly obliged and reentered their vehicles. After riding in complete silence for almost half an hour, the tension became too awkward for Cole and so he spoke up.

"I'm thinking of growing my hair out." He stated randomly.

"What? Why?" Jay responded.

"I dunno, just wanted a change of scene, I guess."

"I would grow my own hair out, but my hair is naturally curly so it would get all frizzy whenever we went somewhere humid."

"Your hair is curly?"

"My hair is artificial, so it can't grow naturally." Zane pointed out. "Would you grow your hair out, Kai?"

At first, Kai didn't respond. "It would be hard to style. I'd need a lot of gel to make it spike up like I do now."

"Your hair spikes more to the _side_ than up."

"Shut up, Jay."

* * *

Jamanakai Village had a much different appearance from when the ninja had left it half a month ago. Much of the buildings were rebuilt; some with a more shoddy job than others. On each of the doorsteps sat a bouquet of exactly twenty-two flowers, and the blacksmiths were busy creating twenty-two plaques - one for each of the victims killed during the Purple Ninja's attack. Most likely due to the gelid temperatures and the ground being covered in a deep layer of icy snow, hardly anyone was outside this late afternoon. The sun was setting and what few people left on the streets scrambled for the warmth of indoors.

Kai shivered and hugged is arms, his cloudy breath obscuring his vision. His teeth were like jackhammers that sent the vibration throughout his body. Even despite how indefatigable he was, he could not relieve himself of the frigid cold that was freezing his skin. The other ninja - except for Zane, of course - had similar stories. It was really, really cold on that mountain.

Lloyd scanned the area. "W-Where do we g-go now?" He asked Jay impatiently.

Jay looked around desperately; he hadn't planned this far ahead.

"S-So do we like, search t-the area or is he j-just gonna appear with N-Nya?" Cole questioned, his words barely audible through the chattering of his teeth.

Jay furrowed his eyebrows, willing for the voice to come back. It did not. Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Jay whipped around to see the person he least expected, but was the happiest to see.

"Nya!" Jay nearly jumped onto the girl standing behind him, wrapping her in a tight embrace. Lloyd's eyes lit up, as did Cole's and Kai's, but Zane narrowed his eyes.

"H-How did you g-get here?" Cole prompted excitedly, approaching the two.

Kai joined Jay in the hug, not believing his eyes. "How sh-she g-got here doesn't m-matter! It's the f-fact that she's h-here at a-all!"

Lloyd was about to step- or rather limp- up to the group, but Zane held him back.

"W-What are you d-doing?" Lloyd asked. He wanted to join Jay, Cole, Kai and Nya.

"Something is not right."

"Wh-What do you m-mean?" Jay asked, letting Nya go.

Nya pulled away from Kai and turned around as well. "Aren't you excited to see me?" She asked Zane. Kai looked at Nya but then gazed at Zane with an angry and slightly offended look on his face. How could Zane not be happy at a time like this?

Zane walked up to Nya and looked into her eyes. It was slightly awkward given the fact that Zane was the second tallest ninja and Nya was the shortest. He had a sharp, icy look in his eyes that greatly contrasted his regular, more kind appearance. After a moment of tense silence, Zane finally said something. "You're not Nya."

Lloyd raised his eyebrows. "W-What makes you say t-that?"

"Yeah, what _d-does_ m-make you say t-that?" Kai repeated much more lividly.

Nya cocked her head. "I was kidnapped and I rescued myself. Is it that you don't want me to get the glory I deserve?"

The ninja stood in stunned silence. Nya glared at Zane menacingly. Zane narrowed his eyes.

An unsettling breeze blew through Jamanakai Village.

"You are not injured." Zane pointed out.

"I recovered." Nya responded testily.

"It's been two days, if that."

"I found medical help."

"Your makeup and hair are done."

"Can't a girl look nice?"

Zane pursed his lips. Nya had a smug look on her face; as did her brother.

"That is true. And I do have to admit, you look extremely comely today." Zane finally said rather flirtatiously.

"Why, thank you." Nya answered in an equally flirtatious manner.

Jay forgot all about how it felt like absolute zero. It was replaced by a burning jealousy. The breeze blew a little harder.

Zane took Nya's hand and kissed it. Nya smiled sweetly.

The breeze turned into a strong gust.

And finally, _finally,_ it went to far.

"Oh, how I've missed you, my dear." Zane said in his most romantic voice. Jay, Kai, Lloyd and Cole were all taken back. Zane took Nya by her waist and pulled her into a passionate kiss. Nya did not fight.

Lightning shot through Jay's arm and out from his fingertips at the couple. However, there was no need for the attack. Ice was quickly climbing up Nya's body from where Zane's hands had been. He shoved her back and she yelped. A ball of fire erupted around Kai's hands.

"Ha! Nya would never let me kiss her!" Zane announced triumphantly.

The others froze (Figuratively and literally). The flames ceased, and the electricity vanished.

" _Y-You're not Nya!_ " Kai yelled with genuine shock. He had thought Zane was either paranoid or a lustful dirtbag. Now it made sense. He was proving that the Nya here at Jamanakai Village was not the Nya they knew. But then, who was _this_ Nya? And more importantly, where was the real one?

"I-I don't get it! Wh-Who are y-you?" Lloyd asked accusingly, charging up his power.

Jay could barely look at Nya or Zane, not after that kiss they shared. He knew Zane wasn't kissing the actual Nya- _his_ Nya- but the jealousy did not disappear.

 _This raises the question: Did Zane not know he was kissing a boy or is he secretly bisexual?_

 _You again? Finally came to help me get my girlfriend back?_

 _I'm starting to think that you don't want me here._

 _I'd want you here if you weren't so dang cryptic!_

 _Wisdom comes at a price, my dear boy._

 _Don't call me that. You know my name is Jay._

 _I know you know I know. It's just so much more fun to sound like Sensei Wu!_

 _Who am I fighting here?_

 _You want to know who Zane just kissed?_

Jay clenched his fists as lightning sparked throughout his limbs. _Yeah. Who Zane just kissed._

 _…_

Did the voice go away?

 _The Purple Ninja._

It's funny how three words that sound so silly out of context could strike so much fear into Jay's heart.

 _The Purple Ninja?_

 _Did I stutter?_

Jay swallowed. The Purple Ninja was here and he was pretending to be Nya. Jay was not at all prepared for this.

He glanced at the other ninja. Kai was wide-eyed, not sure whether or not he should battle his sister-doppelganger. The scar above Cole's eyebrow glowed fiery orange, but his eyes were full of shock and confusion. Lloyd was already prepared to fight, with green energy buzzing around him.

 _Here you have a choice, Jay. We both know what will happen if you make the decision to fight. Everything will change._

 _But can't I just hide my wind powers?_

 _You know you can't, I know you can't. There's no controlling them, not yet._

 _What do I do then?_

The voice seemed to take a deep breath, preparing his words like weapons for battle.

 _To be, or not to be, that is the question: whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them. To die, to sleep; to sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there's the rub: for in that sleep of death what dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause—there's the respect that makes calamity of so long life. For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, th'oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, the pangs of dispriz'd love, the law's delay, the insolence of office, and the spurns that patient merit of th'unworthy takes, when he himself might his quietus make with a bare bodkin? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, and thus the native hue of resolution is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, and enterprises of great pitch and moment with this regard their currents turn awry and lose the name of action._

…

 _Jay?_

 _Yes?_

 _I believe in you._

Jay approached Nya. He knew she wasn't Nya, but she looked just like her and that's all Jay needed to feel so guilty. "We know you are not Nya Smith. Reveal yourself, Purple Ninja." He demanded, trying to sound as professional as possible.

Nya twisted and writhed in her ice trap as it was climbing up her body. "You're crazy!" She snapped. "I'm not the Purple Ninja!"

"Then who are you? Skylor?" Lloyd asked disbelievingly.

"Oh, she better not!" Kai growled.

Nya hesitated for a moment. Her body relaxed and she stopped fighting. "I suppose there's no use in denying it now." She announced with a shrug. What came next was not expected.

The ice shattered into thousands of little snowflakes, flowing through the wind. Among them were violet particles, like embers of a fire, or comets dotting the clear midnight sky. At first, Nya's irises were bright purple. And then her pupils. And then her entire eye. In fact, her entire form changed in a flash of light. She was not Nya anymore. She wasn't even a _she_. Instead, in her place stood a man no older than the ninja's themselves. He had a purple aura around him matching his mauve robes. His hair was the color of mulberries and his eyes- oh, how were they interesting! They were round and slightly downturned at the sides, similar to Cole's. They had a child-like appearance to them. Unfortunately, their innocence was clouded by the sharp gaze of a villain (because for some reason, all villains have sharp gazes). His robes swept around him as his thick, wavy hair flowed as if it were underwater.

All in all, the purple ninja surprised the ninja with his affable features. Then suddenly, his attractive face was nearly melted off by a fireball launched at him at just about 145 kilometers per hour.

"AGH! Don't you know to always wait for the introductions before you start trying to kill each other?" The Purple Ninja exclaimed, wiping away the ashes off his facial features.

"Alright then. I'm Kai!"

"And they say chivalry is dead." The Purple Ninja responded sarcastically. He turned to the other ninja. "Well? Aren't you going to throw your bits of elements at me like Kai over here?"

No response.

"Did you all forget how to talk? That's a shocker given how much your pretty lady friend has to say. _I'll get out of here, just you wait! I'm the master of water, and I'll put up a fight! You can kiss your sorry butt goodbye after I'm done with you!_ " The antagonist added mockingly.

Jay balled his fists, static energy buzzing up and down his arms as his hair stood up with static electricity. The air around him blew harshly, biting his bare nose. Was he scared? He was terrified! But did he want to back away? Never! Not only was he fueled by the goal of rescuing Nya, and the fact that ninja never quit, but he had a courage in him that could only come from the approval of someone that really cared about him. And it was that courage that shot a bolt of lightning at the distracted Purple NInja.

Our plum villain deflected the attack with ease. The projectile- without even coming in contact the the Purple Ninja- bounced away right back at Jay, who dodged just in the nick of time.

"I have to admit, that was pathetic even for you." The Purple Ninja taunted. He sighed when stones of all shapes and sizes came flying at him from Cole's direction. With a flick of the Forbidden Master's hand, each little rock turned into molten liquid, permanently scarring the ground.

A twister of ice came from behind. The Purple Ninja blasted violet light its way and Zane was thrown against a building.

Now it was Lloyd's turn. Balls of green energy were fired relentlessly at the Master of Reality, who smirked at the assault. "You five truly are a clan of sad sacks, aren't you?"

The cycle seemed to never end. The ninja would try to attack when the Purple Ninja least expected it, but he would deflect or dodge the attempts just as unexpectedly, infuriating the heroes.

"H-He's not even f-fighting back! He's j-just b-being annoying!" Cole exclaimed breathlessly.

"I am eighty-seven point six percent sure that is his intention." Zane commented.

Jay clenched his teeth. How were they supposed to defeat this guy, let alone rescue Nya from his grasp? The purple ninja could snap their arm like a toothpick soaked in water!

"Ooh, nice analogy, narrator!" The purpl- wait, wait. Stop breaking the fourth wall! You aren't supposed to hear me!

"Oops, my mistake. I apologize."

"H-He's talking to himself..!" Kai hissed.

"We c-can s-see that!" Lloyd snapped back sharply.

Zane shook his head. He analyzed the situation carefully. He dialed his pain receptor sensitivity down to virtually nothing, and was considering lowering his empathy levels too, if possible. If he did so, he would need to remember to return them back to normal. Who knows what would happen if he left them at a minimum?

"We n-need a p-plan." Cole announced. The purple ninja smirked.

"Good luck."

Kai stamped his foot. "S-Stop it w-with your stupid m-mind games! Why c-can't you b-be l-like all the o-other v-villains?" Kai drew his sword, pointing it savagely at the Purple Ninja. "Y-You are b-by f-far the m-most annoying p-person I've e-ever met!"

"I am offended." The Purple Ninja responded slyly. He waved his finger and Kai's weapon melted into a runny goo, staining his mittens.

"W-What the..?" Kai drew back, shaking the silvery substance off his hand. "Why d-don't y-you h-hit us instead o-of standing th-there b-being a b-brat?"

"KAI! D-Don't _a-ask_ f-for him to at-ttack us!" Jay snapped.

"No no, he's right! Why _don't_ I hit you for once?" The Purple Ninja responded with a laugh. Violet particles swarmed around his hand, and a crooked grin split his face. He snapped his fingers.

Cole erupted into ear-shattering screams, collapsing on the ground. He writhed and twisted, shrieking. Every head turned to him, and were revolted by the sight of his skin boiling and bubbling like magma.

"Cole!" Lloyd cried, approaching his pained friend. He whipped his head around to look at the Purple Ninja, who was laughing as if Cole was performing a hilarious trick.

"Master of Reality strikes again, ninja!"

Kai knew this was dire times, but was satisfied to see that all villains were the same at heart. He sent a firebolt at the Purple Ninja, while lightning flashed past him directed at the same target. The Purple Ninja dodged the flames but was stricken by the lightning, which circulated up his body and back out of his hands. One bolt hit the ground next to Kai while the other smacked Zane in the face. Zane retaliated by spinning behind the Purple Ninja and kicking him in the side.

The villain stumbled a little, but swiftly recovered. He quickly flicked his hand and Zane's right arm detached, flying and landing in the broken fountain in the close distance. Zane blinked in surprise, but shook it off. Ripped and broken wires were sparking outwards from his shoulder, causing Zane's sense of touch to fluctuate. His head was filled with alarms and his sight was flashing red.

Jay watched Zane's robotic arm fly through the air, while Cole was still screaming a little ways away. The bitter wind worsened and his breathing was becoming harder and more extreme.

Lloyd gave up on helping the earth ninja and stood shakily. "W-what are you d-doing to C-Cole?"

"Just a simple little trick. I can put him out of his misery if you'd like."

Rage filled Lloyd like a dam broken inside his soul. He created a sphere of energy and threw it with all his might.

The Purple Ninja grabbed the ball before it hit him. He threw it right back at Lloyd, who ducked just in time. Cole yelped loudly as the projectile exploded behind his body. The wind blew Lloyd's hair in front of his face and he screamed in fury. Forgetting his injury, Lloyd bolted towards the Purple Ninja, green energy swarming around him. Lloyd jabbed his fist at the purple ninja's head, but it completely phased through. This resulted in Lloyd passing all the way through the Purple Ninja and falling behind him onto Zane, causing both to fall.

Jay harnessed the electrons around him and another lightning bolt erupted from his fingers. The Purple Ninja ducked and threw a comet-like sphere of purple light at his attacker. Jay dodged out of the way, but the attack followed him. He ran past and around Kai, circling back to Cole (Whose skin was still boiling) and then fled into the village. He found himself facing a dead end, and the surrounding villagers screamed when the attack nailed Jay directly in the back.

His breath was stolen from him and Jay was thrown against the large, stone wall, leaving a depression in the brick. Jay could not even begin to describe what it felt to be the recipient of one of the Purple Ninja's attacks. His entire body was numb except for the stabbing pain in the center of his vertebrae. It seeped into his skin, circulating through his veins and bones. While regular attacks were quick and temporary, Jay felt like the comet was still etching its way into his back like a horrible leech. He would scream, but all the air had escaped his lungs. Reality shifted in and out of focus, and Jay realized he was laying on the ground, staring up into the overcast sky while blood slowly trickled out the corner of his mouth.

 _Get up, Jay! The fight's not over!_

Jay heard the battle raging in the distance. _I can't. My body won't get up. Plus, everyone's hurt anyway._

 _And how is laying here going to help anything? You are a ninja for Pete's sake!_

 _I'm a sad excuse for a ninja._

 _ **I'm**_ _a sad excuse for a ninja, Jay. I let my doubts and fears control me and that turned out to be my demise. I'm not going to let that happen to you, ninja!_

 _But… who are you?_

 _…_

 _Please tell me._

 _If I told you, you wouldn't trust a thing I say._

 _Maybe I would._

 _You wouldn't. Believe me, you wouldn't. Now get up._

The voice was stern. Jay felt as if a sensei- not Sensei Wu, but a sensei- had ordered him to rise. Jay tried to move, but his limbs refused to obey. _I am a ninja,_ Jay reminded himself. _I defeated the worst of the worst. But… what am I supposed to do now?_

The voice sighed. It repeated something it said a long time ago.

 _It's right under your nose, Jay. Are you supposed to be the master of wind or not?_

Jay tensed. He was supposed to be the master of wind. No, he _was_ the master of wind! Who cares if the ninja saw? He didn't make an oath saying they couldn't know about his newfound power! But he did make an oath, a personal oath, to be there for his brothers and fight for the good of Ninjago!

Wind swirled around him. It picked Jay up and set him on his feet. Jay was overwhelmed with shock and excitement as the air whipped around him, despite it numbing his face even with his mask on.

At that moment, all of Jay's worries floated away. He wasn't worried about Kai's hatred towards him (Even now that Jay had literally ran away from the fight), he wasn't worried that this might be a suicide mission, and he wasn't worried about all the prying eyes of the villagers. All Jay cared about was defeating the Purple Ninja and rescuing Nya… wherever she was.

And with that benevolent purpose, as well as the support and platonic "love" of the spirit guiding him in the form of a disembodied voice, ghostly green light swirled around Jay. Lightning crackled from his body, attempting to fend off the power, but the air-based element overpowered Jay's pre-existing abilities. A fight raged on inside Jay; a fight that determined the fate of ninjago.

Wind versus lightning.

To be or not to be.

Jay decided to be.


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry that this chapter took a while; FanFiction wouldn't let me upload it so I had to use my limited tech abilities to make it work.**

 **Word of the chapter: "Viridescent" -** _ **(Adjective) Greenish or becoming green.**_

Chapter Fourteen

The ground slipped away as the emerald wind became fiercer. The element erupted from Jay's hands and scattered all surrounding rubbish away as his eyes altered from electric blue to solid, ghostly green – as dark and dull as the belt tied around his waist. His irises and whites matched this color, but his pupils glowed bright white. Jay hasn't felt this exhilarated since he achieved his true potential for lightning – The same lighting that electrocuted his veins, demanding that he stop the wind.

The Blue Ninja felt a sharp, buzzing pain throughout his body, and the wind faltered. The blue ninja forced the electricity to shut itself off, which was something he never thought he would ever need to do. But the lightning was relentless; If Jay couldn't stop it, his true potential would meet a premature end. Jay instead focused and relaxed his entire body. After a profuse effort, his mind became as still as a light summer's breeze. He steadied and slowed his breathing and the gale followed suit. _Yes, yes!_ Jay swept his hand to the side, and the air obeyed without hesitation.

He now had complete control over two elements.

 _Go get her._

Jay walked back on the breeze as if he were a divine being, and he certainly felt the part as villagers gasped as he went by. His skin was glaucous, and had a sort of transparency to it like a ghost. Jay stepped proud and tall onto the battlefield. Cole's skin had stopped boiling, but was adorned with bloody red marks. It was hard to tell if he was unconscious or dead, the wounds were so severe.

Kai noticed the unnatural gusts of air blowing around his body and recognized it as the element of the Master of Wind, Morro. But Morro was dead and in the Departed Realm, right? He _couldn't_ be back! Not now! Not when they were fighting a villain far more deadly!

Lloyd also felt the gale and whipped around. At that moment, he saw a sight he dreaded most ever since Morro left his body. One of his friends with the ghostly, translucent green skin. The blue ninja's hair was nearly black, and a familiar emerald streak emitted from his roots and into his formerly auburn hair. Lloyd's dream was turning into a reality; but now, it seemed more like a nightmare.

"MORRO!" Lloyd shouted.

Zane snapped his head to the side and could not look away even when his exposed wires sparked wildly and dangerously. While the others saw a possessed Jay, Zane saw a Jay that was unlocking his true potential – for the _second_ time.

The Purple Ninja's mouth fell open. How was this possible? The master of _two_ natural elements? Or perhaps the spirit of that temperamental green-haired boy was possessing the lightning ninja? Either way, the villain tried to shake his surprise off and keep his composure; He wasn't focused on the blue one, he reminded himself. It was _Lloyd_ he was after.

The Purple Ninja took this opportunity and clenched his fists, holding them up in front of his face. Lloyd's hands went to his own throat and he gagged, gasping for air as the misty breath in front of his mouth vanished, an invisible force strangling him. The Green Ninja's mind raced as the tightness around his throat suffocated him. He fell backwards, twisting his head around in a feeble attempt to throw off the invisible attacker. Soon, his vision began to blur…

Zane looked into Jay's eyes, who gazed back. Their staring contest was broken when they heard Lloyd's struggles. Zane first ran to Lloyd, but turned his head back at the Purple Ninja, whose right fist was white and clenched; the Master of Reality was staring intently at Lloyd with an unbroken glare.

Zane put two and two together: The Purple Ninja was using his powers to remotely choke Lloyd to death. Zane balled his fist and from each side a silvery white javelin of ice grew. Zane threw it at the Purple Ninja with all his might, nearly falling over himself.

The villain averted his eyes to notice the frozen weapon flying towards his head, and caught it just in time. As the forbidden master did this, Lloyd managed to suck in a deep yet hoarse breath. The Purple Ninja hurled the javelin to the ground and it shattered like glass. He turned around and tightened his fist again and Lloyd went back to grabbing his throat.

Jay scanned the clearing. Should he attack or help? Lloyd was dying as he thought, and Cole looked as if he had already died. All the while bitter, ghostly wind swirled yet, waiting for Jay's next command.

His eyes turned to Kai. The red ninja attempted to blast a cone of fire at the master of reality, but was drastically weakened by the polar temperature of the village. Jay _wanted_ to help, but didn't know how to. Wind wasn't exactly the easiest element to work with in battle. He watched as Kai's sweat froze to his face, and his breathing become shaky. Jay knew the fire ninja couldn't last much longer in this weather.

Jay used the wind to propel himself up and forward, arcing through the air. A mini tornado formed in the palm of his hand and quickly grew as he fell right on top of his target.

The Purple Ninja saw the shadow fall over him and he looked up to be eye to creepy eye with the new master of wind. Suddenly, the force of the body smashing against his knocked him off his feet. Jay thrust his left hand forward, and the tiny twister enveloped the Purple Ninja's face, literally sucking the air from his lungs as breath returned to the unconscious Lloyd's.

Jay's fingers etched into the Purple Ninja's face, covering the suffocating man's mouth and nose. Violet beams shot out from each of the Purple Ninja's fingers, obliterating whatever was unfortunate enough to get in their way.

He latched his grip on Jay's wrist, trying to pry him off. The blue ninja felt his hand burn as the purple essence sunk into his flesh, but the pain was overpowered by his adrenaline just as Lloyd finally came to and coughed violently. Zane held out his only hand to help the green ninja to his feet. The Green Ninja took it and stood up unsteadily, his eyes tracing the carnage back to its source. He and Zane were both taken back at the sight of the Purple Ninja and the seemingly-possessed Jay duking it out a few meters away from them, and dodged out of the way whenever one of their elements went rogue.

"I… I d-don't understand!" Lloyd exclaimed hoarsely. "How d-did M-morro p-possess Jay? And w-why i-is he h-helping us?"

"He's not." Zane replied.

Lloyd looked at the titanium ninja with eyes like saucers. "H-he's n-not helping us?"

"No, he's not possessing Jay."  
The Purple Ninja thrusted his free fist at Jay, nailing him in the nose. Jay drew back and the twister ceased, allowing the Purple Ninja to breathe. He rolled to his side and Jay leaped off.  
Jay used the wind to retrieve Zane's amputated arm all the way from the fountain. The metal limb was stiff from the ice in its joints and had dents in many places. But instead of returning it to its owner, Jay propelled the arm at the Purple Ninja, who just managed to get to his feet.  
The master of reality created a translucent violet dome around his body in an attempt to protect himself from the repeated thrusts of the arm, led by Jay. Each time it struck the shield, the element of reality would falter and weaken as the forcefield visibly cracked, dealing a great amount of pain to its creator.  
Jay swung his arms left and right, which shifted the wind and swung _Zane's_ arm left and right. Each time it hit its target the shield of violet light fractured more until – with one last slam of the palm to the barrier – it shattered into thousands of glassy shards.  
Each fragment spun through the air like glass being shattered underwater. Every wake being watched with wonder; the sight was magnificent. They gazed as if it were a work of art – or perhaps it was their hatred towards the Purple Ninja that made them appreciate his defeat so much.

The villain shrieked in pain as the shards suddenly obeyed the laws of physics, quickly scattering on the ground before evaporating into embers of purple light.

Kai took a few steps back, dodging the sharp fragments. "I-It h-hurt him!"

Just as the Purple Ninja managed to stand to his full height, a laser of green energy struck his neck and he stumbled to the ground again, groaning.

"How d-does that f-feel?" Lloyd chattered excitedly. Next to him, Zane blasted ice at the Purple Ninja's hands and feet, pinning him to the ground.

The Master of Reality tensed, violet light breaking through the ice. He panted and groaned, drawing in one last, deep breath. "You should be dead, not chatty." He hissed. He longingly looked into Lloyd's eyes for a moment, then turned to gaze at the _other_ green one; the one creating the fierce wind. "I fear for you, Morro. Your heir's emotions are too strong." He said under his breath. The Purple Ninja exhaled slowly and vanished in a flash of light, just as another one appeared behind Kai, dropping something.

"Heir?" Zane wondered verbally.

" _Morro?_ " Lloyd said breathlessly. "I kn-knew it!"

"G-Guys! Look!" Kai shouted, rushing to the unconscious body dropped behind him. He knelt down and put his arms around the person.  
 _It was Nya_. The real Nya, hopefully. Her eyes were shut and purple particles buzzed around her, but Kai ignored them.  
Zane approached the two, examining the body closely. "She's alive, but I can not say if this is an illusion. Perhaps I should attempt kissing her again to be sure?"

"How about you d-don't, P-Prince Charming," Kai said bitterly.

"And w-we still have one m-more enemy to deal with!" Lloyd cut in, whipping around and preparing his element. "G-Get out of J-Jay's body, ghost!" He hurled a beam of energy at the blue ninja, who was distracted by the return of Nya.  
"Lloyd, no!" Zane cried, reaching his hand out.  
"Huh?" Kai turned his head around.  
Zane tried intercept the attack, but it was too late. It nailed its target in a shockwave of wind. Jay's skin and eyes returned to normal, as the true potential was over. He was already extremely weak and tired, and when Lloyd's element suddenly smacked into his face, all of his senses turned off.

* * *

Jay awoke in a much different room. It wasn't Jamanakai Village, and it certainly wasn't the temple. His whole body ached and he was extremely light-headed. He turned on his cot to see Misako and Nya standing near him, talking. They were not aware that he had awoken.

"Are you sure he's not possessed?" Nya asked anxiously.  
"Yes, I am positive!" Misako responded. "I already used the aeroblades to see if he was and nothing happened."

"Then what's with his hair?"  
"That is beyond me. Perhaps he dyed it?"  
"He couldn't have dyed it in the middle of a battle!"  
"Then I don't know anything about it!" Misako sighed. "We should meet with the others, they're waiting for us." She told as she and Nya both left the room.

 _I can't believe it!_ The voice said.

Jay sighed and closed his eyes. "What… happened?" He muttered.

 _You did it! You unlocked your true potential!_

Jay frowned as he thought about his ninja brothers. Kai was the first to come to mind. "But at what cost?"

Jay crawled off the cot and took in his surroundings. He was in some sort of medical room in Borg Tower. His shirt was missing, revealing the bandages tied around his back and wrist, protecting some sort of salve. One question still alluded him: Why were Nya and Misako talking about his hair?

Jay felt his head. His hair didn't feel any different, maybe a bit messy. He looked at his hand and discovered no colorful residue.

Jay found his gi folded neatly at the foot of the cot and changed into it, only to notice a burnt hole in the back where the purple essence had struck him. It hurt just to remember when that happened, but if it weren't for the Master of Reality, Jay wouldn't have unlocked his true potential for wind. Jay twirled his finger, and the air swirled around it as he had wished.

He still had control.

Jay left the room to find himself in a dimly lit corridor with elevators at both ends. Between the machines were a few doors, one made of glass that apparently led to some sort of IT room. The other Jay could not see through, but he heard familiar voices on the other side. Jay crept nearer and pressed his ear against the door to recognized the voices of his friends – even Cole. They all seemed to be having a heated debate over something while Misako was trying to calm them down.

"I can't believe this! Both of them!" Kai argued loudly.

"They had their reasons, Kai." Zane said.

"So they told you but not me– I mean, _us_?" Kai snapped back.

"It was an accident and they wished for me to not tell any of you." Zane replied innocently.

"But it doesn't make sense." Lloyd cut in. "I know it's unfair that neither Sensei nor Jay told us about any of this before now, but _how_ did Jay get wind powers in the first place?"

"He had the blood of the Master of Wind flowing through his veins." Wu finally said.

"Yeah but, _how_? He's the master of lightning! He's _not_ Morro!" Lloyd snapped back, his voice becoming emotional.

"At least we saved Nya…" Cole mumbled weakly.

"Alright, everyone! I know this is all extremely overwhelming, but we need to calm down and assess the situation in a level-headed fashion." Misako scolded. "Wu, perhaps we should wait until Jay is awake so he can help clear things up?"

"That would be greatly appreciated, yes."

Jay heard footsteps drawing near the door and his heart raced. He thought about spinjitzu-ing away, but that'd be too loud and noticeable. Before he knew it, the door was open and Misako was staring right at him.

"Oh!" She exclaimed.

"Hi there..!" said Jay awkwardly, feeling extremely vulnerable and exposed. He looked over Misako's shoulder into the office-like room. Two couches put across each other facing a center table, with an empty desk at the far end. Zane finally had an unmatching replacement arm and no one was in their winter gear anymore. His friends were sitting and standing on and around the couches, all eyes on him – But Jay soon noticed that it wasn't his face they were staring at, it was his hair. He suddenly felt even more self-conscious. He ran his fingers through his hair then flattened it in an attempt to look a little more presentable.

His eyes met Lloyd's, and the green ninja quickly glanced away, now taking a sudden interest in the floor in front of his feet. But Kai didn't break his gaze with the master of lightning. When Jay saw Kai, his stomach twisted with fear. Kai had the rage of a thousand suns written all over his face, and his narrowed eyes told Jay that if he made the wrong move, then one of them will burn.

But Kai's unsaid threats didn't even come close to the sinking feeling Jay received when he saw that even Nya didn't seem to pleased to see him.

Jay walked past Misako and into the office, trying to find a friendly face. The only person who wore one was Sensei, who had a proud twinkle in his clear, grey eyes. "Did you rest well, Master of Wind?"

Jay's heart nearly jumped out of his chest. He opened his mouth, but his words got caught in his throat. The ninja knew about his new element, and now Jay has just mastered it. The events of the battle at Jamanakai Village started flooding back to him like air filling a balloon.

Cole smiled at Jay with strained happiness. Small bandages covered the black ninja's arms, face, and legs. Where there weren't bandages, Jay could see shiny blackish-red sores that made it difficult to recognize his closest friend. Cole moved off the couch, standing up unsteadily. He secured the blanket wrapped around him and approached Jay.

It made the blue ninja's heart hurt seeing Cole in this much pain and suffering. But he was alive – and so was Nya – and that's all Jay cared about.

"Congratulations," Cole said, his voice hoarse. "You deserve it."

From the back of the room Kai scowled and the closer to the front Lloyd slumped in his seat. Zane smiled warmly at Cole and Jay while Nya sighed, her expression softening.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it." Jay responded.

Misako, feeling satisfied with Cole's actions, was about to say something until Kai interrupted her.

"And what about his hair? I'm not living with someone who looks like a dead crystal thief!" Kai growled furiously.

"What?" Jay said. Why did they keep mentioning his hair?

"I have to admit that I was not aware the wind element could alter the master's genes as much as that." Wu stated.

"I wasn't aware elements could alter genes at all!" Lloyd added.

"What are you guys talking about?" Jay questioned nervously.

Nya shook her head and twirled her hand. A hovering globe of water appeared in front of Jay.

He was shocked, and almost appalled at his reflection.

His hair had become significantly darker, with an emerald green streak mixing in with the curly strands. It emitted from his roots, so Jay knew it was natural and there to stay.

"What the…? How?" Jay exclaimed, running his fingers through his hair and tugging at the viridescent stripe. "Why is this here?"

 _Twinsies!_ The voice sang elvishly.

Green hair? Twinsies?

Jay gasped. " _Morro, you poltergeist!_ "

The rest of the group were taken back at this seemingly random statement.

"Morro? What about him? Is he here?" Lloyd asked anxiously.

"Is Jay possessed?" Kai said, pulling his ninja mask over his face.

Nya threw her hand forward and the watery mirror splashed Jay in the face.

"Agh!" Jay spat the water out, drying his face with his sleeves.

"He's not possessed!" Nya said while Misako rolled her eyes. Jay blinked and rubbed his eyes then put his hands in front of him in surrender.

"Wait, stop! I-"

 _Don't tell them!_

 _What? You have been living inside my head for months! I need their help so you can get out!_

 _No, don't kick me out!_

"If he's not possessed then he's gone insane!" Kai retorted.

"He's not insane, Kai!" Cole said.

"Yes he is and has been for long time!"

Everyone fell silent.

"You heard me!" Kai continued, his face burning red. "Insane! Mental! Jay is _unstable and dangerous!_ "

"No I'm not!" Jay said.

"Don't deny it! From the moment your workshop burned down I knew you'd lost it! But no one paid any attention to you because no one wants to admit it!"

Zane stepped forward. "That's a rather extreme accusation, Kai. I am sure Jay has has no mental illness that can be diagnosed as insanity."

Suddenly, in a fury, Kai hurled a fireball at the ice ninja and everyone cried out in surprise.

"What are you doing?!" Nya demanded.

"SHUT UP, JUST SHUT UP!" Kai screamed.

Zane hit his gi repeatedly attempting to put out the flames before spraying it with a mist of ice. "Kai! This isn't like yourself!"

"Control yourself, Red Ninja. You are allowing your emotions to overpower your common sense!" Wu said.

"I don't care! None of you guys listen to me anyway!" Kai yelled.

"Because everything that comes out of your mouth is either complaining or about yourself!" Jay snapped back while Cole stepped away.

Misako stepped between Jay and Kai. "That is enough, you two!" She turned her head to Kai. "Why in the world would you attack Zane?" She asked sharply.

Kai glared, his breathing heavy and unstable. If Jay looked at Kai's face closely enough – which repulsed him – he could see that the red ninja had tears in his eyes. This whole ordeal – Jay getting new powers, the Purple Ninja kidnapping Nya, Cole nearly dying – had brought Kai to the brink of emotional collapse.

And that made Jay wonder a little bit _– just_ a little bit – what it was like from his point of view.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Fire burned in Kai's chest, fanning his emotions; It scorched his mind, destroying his thoughts like a wildfire. The room felt like it was filled with smoke, and the only person visible was Jay _._

Kai never wanted to hurt someone so badly in his life.

It all happened in-quite literally-a flash of lightning. Without thinking, Kai had launched himself at Jay, flames blazing up his arms, when he suddenly felt a violent electric buzz shoot through his body, the thundering crack deafening him. The lightning burned his skin and eyes and Kai's heart stopped for half a second, then returned to pumping harder and faster than before. Before him, Jay's pale, terrified face was fuzzy and Kai could feel himself slipping in and out of consciousness. A strong gale forced Kai to stumble backwards but he still threw his fire-enveloped arms around, trying to hit Jay, or anyone, or _anything._ The only thing that signaled a success was a sharp cry of pain.

Tears poured out of his eyes as an arm grabbed Kai and he found himself being restrained, his arms twisted behind him. A chill went up Kai's spine when ice formed around his feet, trapping him to his spot as his mind raced, overflowing with pounding thoughts. Where was the ice coming from? Who was holding him back? And where was Jay? He still needed to kill him!

Suddenly, the side of Kai's head went numb and everything became dark.

When Kai woke up he found himself on the floor of a room that he at first thought he'd never seen before. He rubbed his eye sockets and discovered that his cheeks and eyes were damp. He hadn't been crying, had he?

Kai still felt jittery and sore all over when he realized a burnt hole had appeared right in the chest peice of his gi, another one matching in the back. Kai's ears rang slightly and he coughed, a few flames and a bit of black smoke spilling out of his mouth. His head throbbed and he could barely think, let alone remember anything that had happened right before he was knocked out.

It took a minute or two for Kai to realize that he was inside his personal quarters at Borg Tower, yet something about the familiar room felt unwelcoming. He moved off his bed, waited a moment for his head rush to settle, then slowly staggered over and tried the door. He pressed his arms against it, but the door didn't open. When he put his hand on the scanner next to it, the screen informed him his permission was overridden. Realizing the severity of the situation, butterflies flapped violently in Kai's gut as he wondered why and who had locked him inside his own room.

"Hey- hey! Hey, let me out!" Kai shouted, pounding his fist on the door. He couldn't hear any voices other than his own and felt as if he was the only person left in the skyscraper. Kai tried again and again, calling out even louder each time, but finally ceased his attempts to get someone's attention. His heart beat anxiously as he felt the silence drown the room.

Panic made his chest tight, and Kai nervously patted his hair down. He blinked when it shocked him and stook up still, static electricity jumping from strand to strand. "Listen, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to be all crazy!" Kai listened for a nonexistent voice to speak up. "Nya? Lloyd? Anyone?"

Where have they all gone? Did they abandon him? Did they all decide Kai was too unhinged to keep around?

Paranoia suffocated Kai, and his heart pumped so hard he thought it might just jump out of his chest. This was exactly like how he felt when he saw Jay with Morro's powers. Kai wouldn't dare call it another true potential, because Jay _couldn't_ have a new element. It was impossible! Morro was possessing him, he knew it! And he had to save his friends from that returning threat!

Kai stepped back in long strides, then ran at the door as fast as he could. He turned his body to the side and spun quickly on his toes, magical fire surrounding him. _BAM!_ The fire disappeared, and the side of Kai's body felt as if it was just hit with a mallet. Unfortunately, the only thing the door did when Kai collided with it was remain sealed shut.

He was still locked in and now his shoulder throbbed with the drum of his heart. Tears stung the corners of Kai's eyes, threatening to fall, but he refused to cry. Not like this, not here.

He told himself he shouldn't be freaking out this much, but that made him panic even more. Kai's legs felt like wet ramen and his head spun while his entire being trembled. Unwanted memories flashed in front of his eyes, and eventually the repeating image of Jay using his wind powers to beat away the Purple Ninja's shield with Zane's detached arm overtook his mind. Each time the limb hit the dome, Kai could feel as if he was the one being attacked. Constant pangs, just over and over and over again, the terror in the Purple Ninja's eyes were hauntingly childlike. Kai's stomach churned and a tightness formed in the back of his throat, as if he was about to puke.

Then his fire began flickering on and off out of control. His fingertips would be enveloped in flame, then go out again. His hair would be a blaze but then dissipate just as quickly, and Kai couldn't stabilize it. He collapsed to his knees, trying to get in touch with himself again. Still, his nervous breakdown continued and Kai buried his face in his hands.

He started muttered incoherently to himself, demanding that he stop falling apart like this. He didn't even know why he was acting so vulnerable and so unheroic. He was the fire ninja for goodness's sake!

But still, Kai screamed and sobbed until his voice hurt and he couldn't breathe and he had no more tears to shed. When that happened, Kai laid on the floor gazing at the ceiling hopelessly, wishing it would fall and kill him right there. He was wrong for calling Jay unstable, because _he's_ the psychotic one. Jay was just possessed, yet everyone praised him for it. But why? Yes, the aeroblades proved against Kai's claim, but Morro could've just become stronger! Was Jay the special one because he was adopted, or had gone through more pain than Kai? Was Kai not worthy enough to be celebrated by Ninjago because he simply had not suffered enough to deserve their sympathy?

Kai groaned at these thoughts, rubbed his feet against the floor, then coughed. Again, silence buried him under its tremendous weight, and Kai longed that his mother would walk in, take him up in her arms, and sing him a song as he slowly drifted off to sleep like she used to do.

Ugh, now he was acting like a child – a child that wanted his mommy, no less. Kai sat up and took a deep breath. In all honesty, crying his heart out felt refreshing, but left him mentally drained. Kai stood up with shaky legs and stumbled onto his bed. His head and feet hung off the sides but the fire ninja was too tired to right himself. Still, he despised his own very existence for having an emotional breakdown as extreme as that. Yet, he wondered if anyone had heard it or thought to check on him.

When no one did, Kai closed his eyes and forced himself to take a long, deep breath to calm his nerves. It was difficult. His heart still raced as thoughts jumped around in his mind, never staying for more than a few seconds before being replaced with something else.

The door was still shut, and Kai was still alone. How long was he going to be trapped in here?

* * *

Jay rubbed the side of his face. It was tender, red, and blistering. Kai had managed to smack the lightning ninja with his hands of hellfire right before Cole threw a punch at Kai, and then, although badly injured, carried him all the way to his bed room where Kai was dropped on the floor and locked in until things were figured out. Nya had also been a victim of Kai's rampage; He had struck her upper arm with more fire then he had hit Jay with. Now, with bandages wrapped around it, her bicep was a raw, pink, gooey mess that was forming all sorts of nasty water blisters that were very painful.

"I can't believe him! I can't believe _any_ of this!" Nya exclaimed angrily. "I can't believe that… that he would just attack Jay without any reason-"

"There was a reason." Zane said. He wore a grim expression and his gi still had a singed hole that made it hang off of one shoulder, but that barely phased him. "And I believe that the fault, at least part of it, belongs to the blue ninja in question."

The other ninja instantly looked at Jay with big, horrified eyes.

"I-I… it's not my fault Kai had a meltdown!" Jay snapped. "How could you even think that?"

Sensei Wu sighed, stroking his long, white beard. "When I first met Kai, I sensed he had strong emotions but little control over them. He was disciplined and trained to not let them get in the way of saving Ninjago and its citizens, and that created a metaphorical volcano inside him. He successfully managed to not 'erupt' when Lloyd became the green ninja, but then Jay was the spark that ignited the powder keg. I should've let you all know what Jay's private training was for, and because I didn't, we have a broken ninja. We know what we must do now."  
Everyone fell into reverent silence, either staring at the ground or at Wu.

"It isn't your fault." Misako said gently.

"It's no one's fault." Cole cut in. He removed the blanket around him and set it on the couch. Jay almost let out a whine when he saw all the countless yellow blisters and red marks covering the earth ninja's arms, neck and face. "It's no one's but the Purple Ninja's. Nya and I nearly died because of him, and we already know that he can do much worse! We only got lucky because of Jay's true potential, but to defeat this villain once and for all we're gonna need all of our strength, wit, and teamwork!"

Lloyd nodded and smiled. "Nicely said. And I will say without hesitation that no matter what that wannabe ninja does to me, the only way he'll get my powers is over my dead body!"

Wu's face fell, but no one noticed.

"We won't let it come to that. Because if we do, then Ninjago's done for." Nya added. She suddenly put a hand on her head and groaned.

"What's wrong?" Jay asked quickly.

"My head has been hurting ever since I came back." Nya blinked and put her hand down. "I can't really remember what the Purple Ninja did or said to me when I was captured, just that there was a lot of darkness and a weird, constant clunking sound."

"Can you try to remember? We need to know as much about the Purple Ninja as we can." Misako said.

Nya hesitated, then shook her head. "I can't think with a headache like this, but I'll try to remember once it goes away."

Lloyd set his hand on Nya's shoulder. "It's alright if-"

Nya pushed his hand off. "You don't have to tell me. Now, what's with this rumor I keep hearing about Zane kissing me?"

* * *

"What was so important that I just _had_ to be here right as I was resting?" The Purple Ninja questioned sharply. "In the middle of a hurricane, no less?"

It was quite hypocritical for him to say that, because while he was able to stand with ease and look good doing it, his fellow Forbidden Masters were barely able to balance with their knees bent and bodies close to the ground, wrapped in cloaks, blankets, and whatever warmth they could find on such short notice. The team of rogues met in the middle of the raging Hurricane Gavin at its peak so that there would be no one to witness their secret meeting, but that also meant that they could quite possibly die from hypothermia caused by the raging, icy wind and sleet tearing at their faces. The only other person that could stand relaxed was a man with long, metallic silver hair with a familiar faded green streak near his temples. He had a bright smile and seemed to be enjoying every second he spent in the hurricane, and laughed inaudibly whenever lightning struck.

"Master, we know who the Storm heir is!" Wild said, not even audible over the storm. However, the Master of Reality could hear him just fine.

"And so do I! It's the blue ninja, Jay!"

"You know his name?" Manipulation asked before stumbling onto her side.

"Of course I do! Jay Walker, Nya Smith, Zane Julien, I know them all!" The Purple Ninja turned to Storm. "Stop prancing around and tell me something I don't know already!" He demanded furiously.

Storm stopped dancing, but continued grinning. He pointed up at the churning sky.

"We know, it's a hurricane." Wild snapped. Storm shook his head and pointed to himself.

Manipulation smiled sympathetically. "Yes, we are very amazed at what you can do." She said. Then she sighed and closed her eyes. "We can only pray that we too regain our powers."

The Purple Ninja stroked his chin, then pointed to Storm. "Speak."

The line of Storm's thin mouth glowed purple and exploded into violet dust. "Hurricane!" He rasped, his voice shaking with excitement. "I did it!" He held up his shaking hands to show his teammates. "I have it back!"

"Yes, but how? How did you get your element back?" Wild growled. "She can't create illusions and I can't shapeshift!"

"Shut up, Wild. Let the mute say what he will." The Purple Ninja said. Wild immediately shut his mouth, not because he wanted to, but because he had suddenly lost the ability to speak.

When the Purple Ninja turned to look at Storm, he realized that he was now playing in the ocean, hopping around in the icy water.

"Storm!" The ninja barked. A larger than life disembodied hand made of violet essence appeared in the air and dragged Storm back to land by his waist. It threw him into the ground and then evaporated into the air. Manipulation called out and moved to help Storm but the wind blew her off her feet.

Storm raised his head, spitting out wet sand. His mouth moved, but his eyes widened when he realized that yet again, he was mute.

"You are not a child anymore, Storm! I don't know how or why you were able to retain your youth but we are in a new era!" The Purple Ninja stepped back to look at all three of his remaining followers. "Don't you see? Ninjago has forgotten us! Wu has replaced us with _teenagers_ and left us to die at the nation's borders! But if you three actually _do_ something and gather information, I can find both Lloyd and the Transfer Blessing and then we will all be unstoppable!"

"But nothing good happens without a cost!" Manipulation cut in desperately. "Those children are brave and determined, they'll never let you conquer Ninjago as long as they live in it too!"

The Purple Ninja snapped his fingers, and Wild inhaled deeply, finally having a voice again. "Then we'll just have to kill them! And of course you would think that, S-"

"Shut up, Wild. Anybody can be listening, and if our names get out into the world, we'd be found and shot dead!" The Master of Reality said. He waved his hand and Wild grabbed his head, moaning in pain. "Stupid of me to think that after all these years, you would've learned the rules." The ninja chuckled cynically. "But you're just like the beasts you used to enslave: rabid and unable to be tamed."

Manipulation tried not to look away. If she had any sympathy for this man, the Purple Ninja would target her next for having a soft heart, and she was already under heavy suspicion.

"There, I hope you've learned something." The Purple Ninja spat. Wild still groaned and held his head. "I'll use you as an example," The Purple Ninja said, turning to the others. "If you fail to follow the rules, you will be disciplined. It's a quite simple and efficient system."

Storm and Manipulation nodded, not wanting to be punished too. The Purple Ninja inhaled deeply, closing his eyes. He appeared tired – and dare I say _human_ – from using his powers this much. "We will meet again at the children's hospital at this time in three days. Do _not_ abandon the mission." And with that he snapped his fingers and vanished in a flash of violet light.

Manipulation looked at Wild (who at this point had blood trickling out of his ears and was moaning consistently) and restrained herself from helping him. She then looked at the poor, silent Storm: the youngest of the Forbidden Masters who had somehow stayed young forever. Eventually, Manipulation sighed, turned away, and began her long journey back home without another word.

* * *

It wasn't until later that evening that Kai heard a click and the door opened. He raised his head and tried to see who was there, but his red-rimmed eyes stung to much to see the figure's face. Still, Kai could make out that the blob of green standing in the doorway was Lloyd.

"Hey," said Lloyd quietly. "Are you alright?"

Kai didn't answer. He instead laid his head back down and closed his eyes again, breathing deeply. Lloyd swallowed and stepped deeper into the room, hesitant to close the door behind him. "We're all worried about you, Kai." The green ninja said. "It isn't like you to freak out over this. What happened back there?"

Kai opened his eyes again to look at Lloyd. He didn't want to say anything, because he knew that if he did, he would start crying again, or worse. And he couldn't cry in front of Lloyd.

"I-It's okay if you don't want to talk," Lloyd added, wringing his hands. "It's probably for the better anyway. It's just, um, how do I put this…?"

Kai shivered at Lloyd's dismal tone, suddenly feeling a chill go up his spine.

Lloyd spoke slowly and without certainty. "We, uh, we have some people here that are going to…" Lloyd cleared his throat, unable to find words. "To… ask you some questions… and help you."

Kai shot up at once the moment he realized who Lloyd was referring to. "Y-You told _them_ , didn't you?"

Lloyd sighed. "At this point in time we can't afford for… _things_ like this to happen. Maybe if the circumstances were different things might have gone a bit better. Up until this point we've done everything we could to protect you and the others from Lady Justice, but now you've left us with no choice. You've hurt people."

Kai was speechless, the chills in his back suddenly turning into ice that sat heavily in his stomach.

Lloyd regretfully straightened his back, becoming the noble and steely Green Ninja again. He didn't want to, and certainly never thought he would have to do this, but Kai had crossed the line. "I'm sorry..." He said quietly before raising his voice. "Kai Smith, you are a member of the Ninjagan National Protection Agency and therefore not exempt from any legal accusations made against you. I am forced by the New Ninjago City Police Department and Ninjago government to hand any of my ninja over to custody if they have been charged with any serious or unjustified felony. You are seen to no longer be fit to play the role of protector of Ninjago due to serious issues regarding mental and emotional status and must be… temporarily suspended." Lloyd drew in a deep breath. "Give me your mask."


End file.
